Security guards job market in Pennsylvania

Name: Security guards in Pennsylvania: occupation-weighted industry context
Creator: JobMarketHealth

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Industry employment fell while average weekly industry wages rose

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Security guards in Pennsylvania.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 99.65% · BLS QCEWCitation Evidence record

Occupation pay

What Security guards earn in Pennsylvania

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$37,050Pennsylvania

Middle 50% of published wages: $34,570 – $44,300
U.S. median annual wage: $38,020
Reference period: May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Pennsylvania

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Security guards, compared with the Pennsylvania median of $37,050.

Pennsylvania median$37,050

Chambersburg, PA$42,130+13.7% vs. state

Middle 50%$37,380 – $50,560Published employment210

Gettysburg, PA$39,500+6.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$34,170 – $45,330Published employment130

Reading, PA$38,960+5.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$34,570 – $43,920Published employment1,050

Lancaster, PA$38,090+2.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$34,150 – $44,430Published employment880

Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA$37,880+2.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$35,570 – $43,720Published employment2,320

Lebanon, PA$37,470+1.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$31,250 – $43,230Published employment130

View 10 more published metro areas

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD$37,450+1.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$35,990 – $45,640Published employment25,460

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ$36,020−2.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$35,190 – $44,390Published employment2,570

Altoona, PA$35,900−3.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$29,690 – $40,280Published employment230

Pittsburgh, PA$35,850−3.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$34,580 – $43,650Published employment9,250

York-Hanover, PA$35,660−3.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$31,490 – $43,920Published employment830

Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA$35,160−5.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$33,070 – $43,560Published employment2,070

Erie, PA$34,530−6.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$30,140 – $41,530Published employment840

Williamsport, PA$34,440−7.0% vs. state

Middle 50%$29,870 – $38,880Published employment510

State College, PA$34,290−7.4% vs. state

Middle 50%$30,020 – $40,870Published employment280

Johnstown, PA$31,320−15.5% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,790 – $38,120Published employment260

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Pennsylvania median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Pennsylvania’s weighted industry mix.

-0.1%Industry employmentPennsylvania industry employmentU.S. 0.0%vs. 0.0% U.S.

+1.8%Establishments in weighted industriesPennsylvania establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.9%vs. +2.9% U.S.

+3.8%Avg. weekly industry wagePennsylvania avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +3.4% · not occupation payvs. +3.4% U.S. · not occupation pay

-0.1 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 178,209 represented establishments, 83.96% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for security guards in Pennsylvania

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market

Among 16 comparable metro estimates associated with Pennsylvania in OEWS May 2025, the pay leader and employment-size leader differ. Chambersburg, PA has the highest median annual pay at $42,130, with estimated employment of 210. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD has the largest employment estimate at 25,460, with median pay of $37,450. The pay leader's median is 12.5% higher; estimated employment describes existing jobs, not available vacancies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Some metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.

Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution

Among the leading industry groups associated with this occupation in Pennsylvania, Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution in January to March 2026. It accounts for 73.8% of the positive weighted contributions, and its own employment changed +1.9% year over year. The proxy uses each group's share of the occupation's national industry mix; the groups examined cover 96.7% of that mix. Weighted contributions do not count occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Pennsylvania industry employment over time

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values

Pennsylvania · 2026 Q1-0.1%
U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark0.0%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value

Quarterly Pennsylvania industry employment changes and coverage
Quarter	Pennsylvania	Coverage
2024 Q2	+0.3%	100%
2024 Q3	+0.2%	100%
2024 Q4	+0.5%	100%
2025 Q1	+0.4%	100%
2025 Q2	+0.4%	100%
2025 Q3	+0.1%	100%
2025 Q4	+0.3%	100%
2026 Q1	-0.1%	99.65%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Pennsylvania’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters: 8
Earliest quarter: 2024 Q2
Latest quarter: 2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark: 0.0%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Security guards Work

The occupation mix determines which Pennsylvania industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Pennsylvania Security guards context
Industry group	Occupation mix	Employment change	Establishments	Avg. weekly industry wage
Professional and business services	62.8%	-0.5%	83,388	$2,370
Private education and health services	12.9%	+1.9%	59,621	$1,294
Leisure and hospitality	8.2%	+1.0%	35,200	$564
Trade, transportation, and utilities	7.0%	-1.3%	74,006	$1,221
State and local	3.3%	+0.3%	10,459	$1,356
Financial activities	2.4%	-0.2%	33,781	$3,184

Which industries are growing?

3 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Pennsylvania employment change are listed.

Private education and health services+1.9%
Leisure and hospitality+1.0%
State and local+0.3%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Pennsylvania context

Current Pennsylvania Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Pennsylvania. They are not Security guards demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Pennsylvania

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

98.3Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026

-1.7%Versus the February 2020 baseline

-0.5%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index

Indeed postings index
Observation date	Index (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026	98.11
Jul 31, 2026	97.59
Aug 7, 2026	97.16
Aug 14, 2026	97.19
Aug 21, 2026	97.51
Aug 28, 2026	97.55
Sep 4, 2026	97.44
Sep 11, 2026	97.87
Sep 18, 2026	98.49
Sep 25, 2026	98.87
Oct 2, 2026	99.45
Oct 9, 2026	99.93
Oct 16, 2026	99.14
Oct 23, 2026	98.33

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Monthly WARN notices in Pennsylvania

Monthly measurement

Month received in the official state listing. Exact notice days are not published. Effective layoff dates are not used as notice dates.

Latest three completed calendar months
Month	Notice entries
Aug 2026	9
Sep 2026	6
Oct 2026	7
Three-month total	22

Nov 2026: not listed in the source — unavailable, not zero; excluded from the total.

Counts describe published notice entries, not unique employers or confirmed job losses. Explicit revisions are excluded as new notices. Missing months remain unavailable; source revisions may change counts.

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

Source last checked 2026-11-02 07:03 UTC. This check does not certify a newly published report.

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Security guards in Pennsylvania FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Security guards in Pennsylvania?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Pennsylvania industries weighted to Security guards changed -0.1% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with 0.0% nationwide.

Are wages for Security guards rising in Pennsylvania?

QCEW does not publish pay for Security guards in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +3.8% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Pennsylvania industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 99.65% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Security guards openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 99.65% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation: Security guards
SOC code: 33-9032
State: Pennsylvania
QCEW release label: QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period: 2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year: -0.1%State data coverage 99.65%
U.S. benchmark, year over year: 0.0%
Difference from U.S. benchmark: -0.1 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year: +1.8%State data coverage 99.65%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year: +3.8%State data coverage 99.65%
Industry mix vintage: EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date: Aug 28, 2026
Source verification: Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL: https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/security-guards/pennsylvania#evidence-record
Derived by: JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Methodology BLS QCEW How to cite QCEW state context release, 2026 Q1

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.