Texas · BLS May 2025

Security Guard Salary in Texas

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 106,210 security guards working in Texas. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.

Median pay · Texas

$35,980A year, or $17.30 an hour.
Take-home a month$2,591After federal and FICA tax at 13.6%
Worth at national prices$37,071Prices here sit at 97.1 against 100
Against the nation5.4% belowNational median $38,020
What security guards earn in Texas, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid$26,950$12.96
25th percentile$29,290$14.08
MedianHalf earn more, half less$35,980$17.30
75th percentile$43,630$20.98
90th percentileMost experienced and senior$50,740$24.40
MeanThe average, pulled up by the top$38,550$18.54
How we got this
  1. Median wage in TexasBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of security guards earned more than this, half less.$35,980
  2. Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$17.30
  3. Take-home after federal and FICA tax$2,591 a month at an effective rate of 13.6%.$31,090 a year
  4. Worth at national average pricesPrices in Texas sit at 97.1 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$37,071
  5. Against the national medianThe national median is $38,020.5.4% below
  6. Jobs countedA concentration of 0.91 against the nation's 1.00.106,210
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
  • Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
  • Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1

What lands in the bank

A $35,980 salary in Texas, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.

  • Federal income tax. $2,138 a year.
  • State income tax. Texas levies no state income tax on wages.
  • Social Security and Medicare. $2,752 a year.
  • Left over. $31,090 a year, $2,591 a month, an effective rate of 13.6%.

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What $35,980 is worth in Texas

Prices in Texas sit at 97.1 against a national average of 100, so $35,980 earned here buys what $37,071 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 96.5 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in Texas takes in $78,476, so this occupation's median is 0.46 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. 9% less concentrated in Texas than in the country as a whole.

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Common questions

Security Guard pay in Texas, answered

How much does a security guard make in Texas?

The median wage for security guards in Texas is $35,980 a year, or $17.30 an hour.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What is the take-home pay for a security guard in Texas?

On the median wage of $35,980, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $31,090 a year, or roughly $2,591 a month.

That is after federal and FICA tax, an effective rate of 13.6%.

Texas levies no state income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld for it.

Do security guards earn more in Texas than in the rest of the country?

No. The median in Texas is 5.4% below the national median of $38,020.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Texas sit at 97.1 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $35,980 a good salary in Texas?

It is 0.46 times the median household income of $78,476. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in Texas run at 97.1 against a national average of 100, with rents at 96.5, so $35,980 here buys about what $37,071 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid security guards earn in Texas?

The top tenth earn $50,740 a year or more, against $26,950 at the bottom tenth.

Experience, specialism, employer and the part of Texas someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many security guards are there in Texas?

The survey counted 106,210 of these jobs in Texas for May 2025.

That makes the occupation 9% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from