SOC 33-0000

Protective Service Occupations

24 occupations sorted by median salary

The Protective Service Occupations major group (SOC 33-0000) contains 24 distinct occupations in the BLS Standard Occupational Classification system, each measured individually by the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey in May 2025. Combined U.S. OEWS employment across this group is approximately 3,776,600 estimated jobs in covered establishments for occupations where employment is separately reported. The equal-weighted mean of the published occupation medians inside this group is $62,203. It is a derived comparison benchmark, not the group’s worker-level mean or median and not a career-stage estimate.

The published medians span from $106,040 for First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives to $33,580 for Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers, a 3.2× endpoint ratio. The ranking establishes those occupation-level values but does not identify the effects of credentials, seniority, responsibility, or industry.

Use this page as a launch pad: each row links to the occupation's national profile, with percentile boundaries, local-area rows, projections, and education assignments where the relevant source publishes them. OEWS wages include straight-time pay, tips, commissions, incentive pay, and production bonuses. Employer benefits, overtime premiums, stock compensation, and nonproduction bonuses sit outside the estimate; their value varies too much to apply one site-wide uplift. For career planning, pair these medians with the 10th-to-90th percentile spread on each occupation's page so you understand the observed wage distribution before committing to an educational or certification pathway. Those percentile boundaries are not an individual's guaranteed floor or ceiling.

# Occupation Median Salary
1 First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives 33-1012 $106,040
2 Detectives and Criminal Investigators 33-3021 $93,790
3 First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers 33-1021 $93,530
4 Transit and Railroad Police 33-3052 $90,230
5 First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers 33-1011 $77,970
6 First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other 33-1099 $76,400
7 Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers 33-3051 $76,210
8 Fire Inspectors and Investigators 33-2021 $75,920
9 Fish and Game Wardens 33-3031 $74,060
10 Transportation Security Screeners 33-9093 $66,770
11 Firefighters 33-2011 $59,280
12 Correctional Officers and Jailers 33-3012 $58,940
13 Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists 33-2022 $56,870
14 Bailiffs 33-3011 $56,600
15 First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers 33-1091 $55,940
16 Private Detectives and Investigators 33-9021 $51,220
17 Parking Enforcement Workers 33-3041 $46,730
18 Animal Control Workers 33-9011 $45,660
19 Gambling Surveillance Officers and Gambling Investigators 33-9031 $43,370
20 Protective Service Workers, All Other 33-9099 $42,540
21 Crossing Guards and Flaggers 33-9091 $38,100
22 Security Guards 33-9032 $38,020
23 School Bus Monitors 33-9094 $35,100
24 Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers 33-9092 $33,580

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First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives

Top-paying in Protective Service Occupations

Detectives and Criminal Investigators

Second-highest in group

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Last updated: May 2025. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025.

SOC classification from BLS Standard Occupational Classification system, 2018 edition.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS occupational wage data for this SOC major group. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

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