Security Guards in Nevada
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,159
after federal, FICA and Nevada tax
Tax takes
$5,151
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,160
Nevada costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Nevada — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$37,310
Kept after tax
$32,159
Worth in national money
$33,160
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nevada is 29 of 51 states for security guards, with a middle wage of $37,310. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against 485 occupations Nevada publishes, security guards lands at 436. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Nevada is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,310 the take-home is $32,159; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,160 would nationally. The average comes to $39,770, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Nevada ranks 29 of 51 for security guards at $37,310. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Nevada, this work ranks 436 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for security guards in Nevada, on $37,310, is $32,159 — equivalent to $33,160 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $39,770 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,340 |
| This salary | $37,310 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Nevada | $32,159 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,159 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$67 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $37,310 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$80 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of security guards in Nevada earn under $37,310 and half over. The published range runs $29,140 at the tenth percentile to $48,340 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Nevada the take-home figure of $32,159, from $37,310, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 436 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,160, the adjusted value of that $37,310 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Nevada. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 436 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for security guards in Nevada, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,140 to $48,340; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Nevada is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,159 from $37,310. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 436 of 485 locally.
- This $33,160 adjusted figure, worked from $37,310, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 436 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 436 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $39,770 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,140 at the bottom tenth to $48,340 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Nevada is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $33,160 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,159 survives, because Nevada levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Nevada is $39,770. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,140 to $48,340) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Nevada rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Nevada's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $33,160 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Nevada levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $32,159 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.