150+ Security & Public Safety Jobs in Washington, DC

Observed local BLS data for the full protective-service group show about $60,600 median annual pay and $34.49 mean hourly pay in May 2025. Police-specific proxy sources are higher, placing metro police pay around $76,842 to $84,000, with a middle band of roughly $71,910 to $98,540. Current posted ranges in the local sample center on about $70k to $91k for salaried roles and about $19 to $24 an hour for hourly roles.

Full August 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 128 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $41,600 at the 25th percentile, $45,926 at the median and $56,035 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of September 25, 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 177 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

This is a workable but selective market over the next 3-6 months. The metro still shows real hiring breadth, with more than 250 postings across more than 75 companies over the last 90 days, but the broader backdrop is softer: local unemployment was 4.0% in July 2026 and metro total nonfarm employment was down 3.0% over the year ended May 2026. Pay is respectable overall, with BLS putting the local protective-service group at about $60,600 median annual pay and $34.49 mean hourly pay, but the stronger compensation sits in sworn police and specialized public-agency tracks rather than in the whole category.

Best positioned: Candidates who can work fully on-site, pass background and physical screening, and already show access control, emergency response, incident reporting, and First Aid/CPR readiness have the best odds right now.

Main caution: Do not treat this as an easy-entry police market just because postings exist; about 85% of sampled openings are entry level, but the higher-paying sworn tracks still use exams, background checks, and slower hiring cycles.

From the August 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 177 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. AUS: 47 open roles
2. Admiral Security: 42 open roles
3. Chenega Corporation: 5 open roles
4. Securitywashingtondc: 5 open roles
5. Wrecker Service Inc: 5 open roles
6. Chenega Security International: 3 open roles
7. GardaWorld: 3 open roles
8. Parts Authority: 3 open roles
9. Allied Universal Corp: 2 open roles
10. Comstock Companies: 2 open roles

Where the openings are

• Washington: 21
• Arlington: 17
• Bethesda: 12
• Sterling: 11
• Baltimore: 8
• Reston: 8
• Ashburn: 8
• Leesburg: 7

Work arrangement

on-site 166 (99%), hybrid 2 (1%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is concentrated less in elite sworn roles and more in the broad on-site security and public-safety base. In the local sample, security and investigations account for about 30% of postings, security and safety about 20%, government and public sector about 15%, retail about 10%, and education about 5%. That mix says the easiest entry is usually through contract security, campus public safety, retail loss prevention, and similar frontline roles rather than detective or command-track openings. The skills pattern reinforces that. Employers most often ask for access control, emergency response, incident reporting, First Aid, CPR, customer service, and report writing, while the sample is about 85% entry level and about 95% or more on-site. If you are already eligible for agency testing, there is still a higher-pay lane in sworn and public-sector recruiting, including airport policing, but it is a narrower slice of the market.

• Contract security and investigations (high): This is the biggest local segment at about 30% of sampled postings, and it lines up with the most common screening skills: access control, emergency response, and reporting.
• Government and airport public safety (moderate): Government and public-sector postings are about 15% of the sample, and the market still shows airport-police recruiting with structured testing and a sign-on bonus.
• Retail and education public safety (moderate): Retail accounts for about 10% of sampled postings and education about 5%, making these practical bridge segments for candidates who need recent field experience fast.

Where to focus: Focus first on entry-heavy on-site employers where access control, emergency response, and reporting are table stakes; pursue sworn or airport public-agency tracks in parallel, not as your only plan.

Roles worth searching next

• Public safety telecommunicator or 911 dispatcher: It keeps you in the same agencies and incident flow while moving into a different job family centered on communication, triage, and coordination.
• Emergency management coordinator: Emergency-response experience transfers well into planning, drills, documentation, and incident-command support.
• EHS or safety coordinator: The local market values emergency response, reporting, and procedure-following, which are directly useful in workplace safety jobs.
• Security systems or access-control technician: Access control is heavily requested in local protective-services postings, so that experience can transfer into security-systems work.

What postings ask for

• Access control (table_stakes | immediate): Access control appears in about 40% of sampled postings, making it one of the clearest screening skills for entry roles in this market. Who: Entry-level candidates and career switchers.
• Emergency response (table_stakes | immediate): Emergency response shows up in about 30% of local postings, so employers want candidates who can act calmly and follow procedure under pressure. Who: Anyone targeting security officer, public-safety officer, or campus-safety work.
• Incident reporting and report writing (differentiator | immediate): Incident reporting is requested in about 20% of postings and report writing in about 15%, which makes documentation skill a real separator in interviews and promotions. Who: Entry-level applicants who need to look more polished, and mid-career candidates aiming at specialized roles.
• First Aid and CPR (table_stakes | immediate): First Aid is one of the more common named certifications, and both First Aid and CPR appear among requested local skills. Who: Nearly everyone in this category, especially career switchers without direct field experience.
• VA DCJS license (differentiator | immediate): The VA DCJS license is the most common named credential in the local postings sample, appearing in about 10% of listings that specify certifications. Who: Candidates targeting private-security work on the Virginia side of the metro.
• De-escalation and community policing (premium | near-term): Police-career guidance for this metro highlights community policing and de-escalation as growing skill areas, especially for public-facing and sworn roles. Who: Mid-career applicants and anyone pursuing law-enforcement tracks.

Questions about this market

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

Observed local BLS data for the full protective-service group show about $60,600 median annual pay and $34.49 mean hourly pay in May 2025. Police-specific proxy sources are higher, placing metro police pay around $76,842 to $84,000, with a middle band of roughly $71,910 to $98,540. Current posted ranges in the local sample center on about $70k to $91k for salaried roles and about $19 to $24 an hour for hourly roles. This is a viable wage market, but the averages hide a wide split between hourly frontline security work and higher-paid sworn roles.

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

Real opportunity is concentrated less in elite sworn roles and more in the broad on-site security and public-safety base. In the local sample, security and investigations account for about 30% of postings, security and safety about 20%, government and public sector about 15%, retail about 10%, and education about 5%. That mix says the easiest entry is usually through contract security, campus public safety, retail loss prevention, and similar frontline roles rather than detective or command-track openings. The skills pattern reinforces that. Employers most often ask for access control, emergency response, incident reporting, First Aid, CPR, customer service, and report writing, while the sample is about 85% entry level and about 95% or more on-site. If you are already eligible for agency testing, there is still a higher-pay lane in sworn and public-sector recruiting, including airport policing, but it is a narrower slice of the market.

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 (None postings), AUS (None postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

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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