Security guard pay in Pennsylvania after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median security guard in Pennsylvania earned $37,680 a year in May 2024, which is $18 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 43,710 security guards the BLS counts in Pennsylvania earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $34,370 and $45,210. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Pennsylvania's tax, and Pennsylvania has a flat 3.07% state income tax.

What the median security guard keeps in Pennsylvania

For a single filer on the median $37,680, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

The state line is 3.1% of gross at this salary. Municipalities add an earned income tax, 1% in most places and 3.75% in Philadelphia, which is not in the table. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Pennsylvania ranks for security guard pay

Of the 50 states, Pennsylvania ranks 31 of 50 on the gross median for security guards. The highest-paying state is Alaska at $48,620 and the lowest is Mississippi at $29,710. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Across the border

The same job in the states next to Pennsylvania, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

New York and Maryland leave a security guard with more at the end of the year than Pennsylvania does. West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and Ohio pay less once tax is counted. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.

Where the security guard jobs are in Pennsylvania

The BLS count of 43,710 security guards is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie and Harrisburg, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($45,210 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Pennsylvania openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

What people get wrong about security guard pay in Pennsylvania

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Pennsylvania is $20 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($18) is what the typical security guard makes.
• Comparing gross across states. A $37,680 offer in Pennsylvania is $31,102 in hand; the same number in a no-tax state is $32,259.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $35,680 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $40,680 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Philadelphia pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Pennsylvania, on one page

The Pennsylvania page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Pennsylvania this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Pennsylvania employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Security guard. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.