Security Guards Salary in Colorado

Security Guards in Colorado earn a median $45,150 a year, +19% against the national median of $38,020; they and rank 7th of 51 states by median. That is 24% less than the median across all occupations in Colorado ($59,800). Colorado pays more than every neighbouring state: New Mexico, Utah, Nebraska, Wyoming, Arizona, Kansas and Oklahoma range from $36,270 in Oklahoma to $43,320 in New Mexico. Colorado employs 16,890 security guards, 5.88 per 1,000 jobs, the 22nd largest count of any state. A location quotient of 0.71 means it is less common in Colorado than nationally.

Colorado vs the United States, May 2025

Security Guards: wage percentiles, mean, employment, jobs per 1,000 and location quotient in Colorado and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Colorado	Hourly	$17.38	$18.23	$21.71	$22.88	$27.58	$22.05	16,890	5.88	0.71
Colorado	Annual	$36,160	$37,920	$45,150	$47,580	$57,360	$45,870	16,890	5.88	0.71
United States	Hourly	$14.52	$16.93	$18.28	$22.21	$28.29	$20.42	1,283,470	–	–
United States	Annual	$30,210	$35,210	$38,020	$46,200	$58,840	$42,470	1,283,470	–	–

Colorado annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

Rank by median: 7th of 51 states
Rank by employment: 22nd of 51 states
Location quotient: 0.71
Jobs per 1,000: 5.88

Ranks count the 50 states and DC with a published value. The location quotient is the occupation's share of Colorado's employment divided by its national share; 1.00 means the same share as the nation. Take-home pay at these wages: FastCalc's take-home pay calculator.

Metropolitan areas in Colorado

7 metropolitan areas and 3 nonmetropolitan areas touching Colorado publish a row for security guards, sorted by median. Areas crossing a state line are listed under every state they touch; a linked metro has its own profile.

Area	Median hourly	Median annual	10th pct (annual)	90th pct (annual)	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Boulder, CO	$22.33	$46,450	$36,440	$62,630	480	2.50	0.30
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$21.84	$45,420	$36,780	$57,330	10,910	6.78	0.82
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$20.83	$43,320	$36,160	$50,370	1,080	6.35	0.77
Colorado Springs, CO	$20.52	$42,670	$34,220	$58,150	2,210	7.00	0.85
Pueblo, CO	$19.40	$40,360	$30,800	$60,200	490	7.89	0.96
Grand Junction, CO	$18.56	$38,590	$34,290	$53,960	230	3.36	0.41
Greeley, CO	$17.88	$37,190	$32,750	$55,080	470	3.93	0.48
Northwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area	$22.41	$46,600	$36,790	$61,500	480	3.65	0.44
Eastern and Southern Colorado nonmetropolitan area	$18.19	$37,840	$32,810	$52,300	190	2.67	0.32
Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area	$18.10	$37,640	$30,800	$61,130	260	2.41	0.29

Neighbouring states

State	Median hourly	Median annual	Employment	Location quotient
Colorado	$21.71	$45,150	16,890	0.71
Arizona	$18.41	$38,290	29,820	1.12
Kansas	$17.83	$37,080	7,150	0.60
Nebraska	$19.15	$39,840	4,700	0.56
New Mexico	$20.83	$43,320	8,410	1.17
Oklahoma	$17.44	$36,270	12,210	0.87
Utah	$20.53	$42,700	7,310	0.51
Wyoming	$18.85	$39,200	1,130	0.49

See the national page for Security Guards (every state ranked) and the Colorado wage profile (every occupation in the state).

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Colorado estimates.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.