150+ Security & Public Safety Jobs in Washington, DC

The cleanest current local pay signal is from postings: salaried roles center on about $73k to $86k, with a broader 25th-75th band of about $67k to $116k, while hourly roles center on about $20 to $24 / hour. Older BLS context for the broad protective-service group shows a mean hourly wage of $29.19 in the metro in May 2025, and Washington-area wages and salaries overall rose 3.8% over the 12 months ended March 2026. Sworn police tracks can sit higher than the broad category: Arlington set starting pay at about $90,000, transfer hires can reach up to $103,330, and Alexandria proposed $75,000 starting pay with a 21% increase for sergeants.

Full July 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 119 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $42,380 at the 25th percentile, $48,069 at the median and $56,482 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 7, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 169 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

This is a workable but selective market. The metro unemployment rate was 4.1% in June 2026, and the local market still showed more than 250 postings across more than 100 companies over the last 90 days. Demand is strongest in government-linked, contract security, and sworn-entry pipelines, but most openings are on-site and about 80% of the local posting mix is entry level.

Best positioned: Candidates with clean background histories, schedule flexibility, access-control and report-writing fundamentals, and either a sworn-track application or federal-protective-services specialization have the best odds right now.

Main caution: Do not assume every public-safety role pays like Arlington police or federal law-enforcement; much of the live market still centers on about $20 to $24 / hour or broader posted salary bands around about $73k to $86k.

From the July 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 169 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Admiral Security: 51 open roles
2. AUS: 33 open roles
3. Securitas AB: 5 open roles
4. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.: 5 open roles
5. BTI Security: 4 open roles
6. GardaWorld: 4 open roles
7. AIR Control Concepts: 3 open roles
8. Akima: 3 open roles
9. Akima: 2 open roles
10. Allied Universal Corp: 2 open roles

Where the openings are

• Washington: 20
• Bethesda: 20
• Arlington: 12
• Leesburg: 8
• Ashburn: 8
• Hanover: 7
• Herndon: 6
• Arlington County: 6

Work arrangement

on-site 163 (100%)

Where the demand is

Real openings cluster in a few lanes. In the posting sample, security & safety accounts for about 25% of activity, government & public sector about 20%, security and investigations about 15%, education about 10%, and retail about 10%. That mix matters because the metro is not just about sworn police jobs; there is also a practical market in contract site security, campus or facility coverage, and investigation-adjacent work. The sample is fragmented across employers rather than dominated by one player, with more than 250 postings across more than 100 companies over the last 90 days. The strongest named signals lean toward government-connected and federal-facility work. DC's Department of General Services posted a Supervisory Special Police Officer opening, Allied Universal advertised an Armed Security Officer role for Federal Protective Services, Constellis sought FPS-qualified NWDTP instructors, and an Arlington opening showed suburban demand too. Sworn recruitment is also active through Maryland State Police academy intake, Fairfax County's pre-academy recruit pipeline, and Virginia State Police's recruitment surge.

• Government and public-sector protective roles (high): Government & public sector represents about 20% of the local posting mix, and current signals include DC special police hiring plus active police and academy pipelines in Maryland and Virginia.
• Contract security and federal-facility coverage (high): This is one of the clearest immediate-entry lanes, with named activity from Admiral Security, AUS, Allied Universal's Federal Protective Services work, and Constellis instructor hiring tied to federal specialization.
• Education and campus safety (moderate): Education accounts for about 10% of the posting mix, making it a real but smaller lane for candidates who want stable, public-facing site security rather than sworn policing.
• Retail and loss prevention (moderate): Retail is also about 10% of the mix, which can be a workable bridge for switchers, but it usually offers less upside than sworn or federal-protective paths.

Where to focus: If you can pass stricter screening, focus first on government-linked police, special police, or federal-protective roles. If not, use contract security roles with access-control, reporting, and emergency-response requirements as the fastest entry point.

Roles worth searching next

• Pathways to Public Service trainee: DC's job bulletin showed a Pathways to Public Service role alongside protective-services hiring, making it a realistic bridge into government operations that can later support a move into public-safety work.
• Support Services Supervisor in a public-safety agency: DC Fire and EMS was actively hiring a Support Services Supervisor, which is a practical neighboring role for candidates with operations or logistics backgrounds who want to get inside a public-safety employer.
• Public Information Officer for a public-safety agency: DC Fire and EMS also listed a Public Information Officer role, giving communications candidates a way into the public-safety ecosystem without moving directly into enforcement or guard work.
• Heavy Mobile Equipment Mechanic Helper for public-safety fleets: A DC Fire and EMS opening for Heavy Mobile Equipment Mechanic Helper shows that public-safety employers also hire skilled-trades talent around the response system, not just inside the badge-and-weapon track.

What postings ask for

• Emergency response (table_stakes | immediate): It appears in about 35% of local postings, tying it for the most common hard-skill request. Who: Everyone entering frontline security or public-safety support.
• Access control (table_stakes | immediate): It also shows up in about 35% of local postings, which makes it a baseline skill for site, building, and facility coverage work. Who: Entry-level applicants and career switchers targeting contract or campus security.
• Report writing (table_stakes | immediate): Report writing appears in about 25% of local postings, and national public-safety tooling is increasingly built around drafting and summarizing incident reports faster. Who: Anyone who wants to move beyond pure watchstanding into stronger, promotable roles.
• First aid and CPR (table_stakes | immediate): First aid is one of the most commonly named certifications locally, and first aid plus CPR both appear in the skill mix across Washington-area postings. Who: Entry-level applicants, campus or retail safety workers, and switchers without prior law-enforcement history.
• VA DCJS license (differentiator | immediate): A VA DCJS license appears among the most commonly required certifications in local postings, which makes it a concrete screen-in credential for Virginia-side security work. Who: Candidates targeting private security roles in Northern Virginia.
• Federal Protective Services specialization or FPS-qualified NWDTP instructor credentials (premium | near-term): Local signals show demand not just for officers but also for trainers with FPS-qualified NWDTP credentials, which is a narrower and higher-bar specialization than generic guard work. Who: Mid-career applicants, former law enforcement, military veterans, and trainers.

Questions about this market

What do Protective Services & Public Safety roles pay in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV?

The cleanest current local pay signal is from postings: salaried roles center on about $73k to $86k, with a broader 25th-75th band of about $67k to $116k, while hourly roles center on about $20 to $24 / hour. Older BLS context for the broad protective-service group shows a mean hourly wage of $29.19 in the metro in May 2025, and Washington-area wages and salaries overall rose 3.8% over the 12 months ended March 2026. Sworn police tracks can sit higher than the broad category: Arlington set starting pay at about $90,000, transfer hires can reach up to $103,330, and Alexandria proposed $75,000 starting pay with a 21% increase for sergeants. This is a market with a wide pay spread. National BLS data puts the protective-service group median at $50,580, while detectives and criminal investigators are at $93,790, and Washington follows that same pattern of big separation between basic coverage roles and specialized enforcement work.

Where is demand for Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV concentrated?

Real openings cluster in a few lanes. In the posting sample, security & safety accounts for about 25% of activity, government & public sector about 20%, security and investigations about 15%, education about 10%, and retail about 10%. That mix matters because the metro is not just about sworn police jobs; there is also a practical market in contract site security, campus or facility coverage, and investigation-adjacent work. The sample is fragmented across employers rather than dominated by one player, with more than 250 postings across more than 100 companies over the last 90 days. The strongest named signals lean toward government-connected and federal-facility work. DC's Department of General Services posted a Supervisory Special Police Officer opening, Allied Universal advertised an Armed Security Officer role for Federal Protective Services, Constellis sought FPS-qualified NWDTP instructors, and an Arlington opening showed suburban demand too. Sworn recruitment is also active through Maryland State Police academy intake, Fairfax County's pre-academy recruit pipeline, and Virginia State Police's recruitment surge.

Which employers are hiring the most Protective Services & Public Safety talent in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV?

Recent postings show the most activity from Admiral Security (40 postings), AUS (20 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Protective Services & Public Safety roles in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 0% are remote and 5% hybrid, with 95% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

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