Protective service occupations

Minor Occupation Group

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    2024 Workforce
    3.49M
    Average Age
    41
    Average Salary
    $66,507
    Average Male Salary
    $71,423
    Average Female Salary
    $50,313

    About

    Protective service occupations are most often employed by the Justice, public order, & safety activities industry. The average yearly wage for Protective service occupations was $66,507 in 2024.

    Photo by USAG- Humphreys
    Service Occupations

    Employment

    Employment and salary information for the Protective service occupations workforce. Protective service occupations workforce in 2024 was 3,486,634 people, of which 23.3% were women and 76.7% were men.

    Protective service occupations are paid most in NYC-Manhattan Community District 4--Chelsea & Hell's Kitchen PUMA, NY but are relatively concentrated in Yauco, Sabana Grande & Peñuelas PUMA, PR.

    Employment Over Time

    Metric
    Grouping
    2,674,718
    Male Workforce
    ± 39.8k
    811,916
    Female Workforce
    ± 22.1k

    The Protective service occupations workforce in 2024 was 3,486,634 people (23.3% women and 76.7% men). This implies an average annual growth of 6.21% between 2014 (3,282,767) and 2024 (3,486,634).

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    Employment by Location

    Level
    Metric

    This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Protective service occupations.

    During 2024, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were Massachusetts ($82,590), California ($81,534), and New Jersey ($80,371).

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    Yearly Wage Ranking

    $66,507
    AVERAGE WAGE
    #5 in the ranking (2014)
    $69,878
    NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE
    For all occupations across the US

    In 2024, Protective service occupations earned an average of $66,507, $3,370 less than the average national salary of $69,878

    The graph shows the ranking of Protective service occupations in relation to all Minor Occupation Group in 2014.

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    Wage Distribution

    Gender
    0.39
    WAGE GINI

    In 2024, Protective service occupations had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.39, which is lower than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Protective service occupations (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

    The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Protective service occupations compared to the entire workforce in the country.

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    Industry

    Information on the industries that employ Protective service occupations and on wages for those in the field. Justice, public order, & safety activities is the industry that employs the most Protective service occupations, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Protective service occupations, by average wage, is Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals ($204,355).

    Occupations by Industries

    Metric
    Value
    3.49M
    2024 Workforce
    ± 45,325
    0.442%
    1 YEAR GROWTH
    ± 1.83%

    This graphic shows the share of Protective service occupations employed by various industries. Justice, public order, & safety activities employs the largest share of Protective service occupations at 68%, followed by Investigation & security services with 21.8% and Amusement & Recreation with 5.68%.

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    Diversity

    Demographic information on Protective service occupations in the US. The workforce of Protective service occupations in 2024 was 3,486,634 people, with 23.3% woman, and 76.7% men. The average age of male Protective service occupations in the workforce is 41.3 and of female Protective service occupations is 39.7, and the most common race/ethnicity for Protective service occupations is White.

    Gender and Age

    Metric

    The workforce of Protective service occupations in 2024 was 3,486,634 people, with 23.3% woman, and 76.7% men.

    The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 30 to 34 years (446,034 people), 25 to 29 years (423,305  people), and 35 to 39 years (417,648 people). Among them they concentrated 36.9% of the total workforce.

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    Ethnicity

    Gender

    In 2024, 18.1% of Protective service occupations workers were Hispanic and 81.9% non-Hispanic.

    The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (51.5%), Puerto Rican (20.9)%, and All Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino (4.54)%

    You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

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    Races

    In 2024, 59.4% of the Protective service occupations workforce were White, of which 19.5% were women and 80.5% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black (19.1%) and Two or More Races (11.9%).

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    Education & Skills

    Data on higher education choices for Protective service occupations from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Protective service occupations is Protective Services but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2024 were Protective Services.

    Among the necessary skills for Protective service occupations, Active Listening stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Protective service occupations need more than the average amount of Operation and Control.

    Majors

    ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.
    Type of Majors
    Degree

    The most common majors achieved by Protective service occupations in 2024 (counting all academic degrees) were Protective Services (291,159 people), Business (160,293 people), and Social Sciences (106,523 people).

    You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

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    Education Levels

    Metric

    The main educational levels achieved by the Protective service occupations workers were Some college (1,008,429 people), High School or Equivalent (842,796 people), and Bachelors Degree (776,586 people).

    The graphic shows the Protective service occupations workforce by gender and educational level.

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    Skills

    Chart
    Value

    Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Protective service occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Protective service occupations need many skills, but most especially Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking.

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