What Security Guards earn in Crittenden County, AR
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $35,100: the median annual pay for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $16.88 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $36,570, which is 4.2% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,450 people working in this occupation across the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Crittenden County, AR has roughly 47,266 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Security Guards in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $29,060 a year ($13.97 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $45,930 or more ($22.08 an hour). That is a gap of $16,870 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $30,360 at the 25th percentile and $36,880 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR is $16.88. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $35,100, and the same salary is $2,925 a month before taxes or about $1,350 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $14.02 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Security Guards
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Security Guards this way: "Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. May operate x-ray and metal detector equipment."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows, and gates"; "Answer alarms and investigate disturbances"; "Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises"; "Write reports of daily activities and irregularities, such as equipment or property damage, theft, presence of unauthorized persons, or unusual occurrences".
Job outlook for Security Guards
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,294,300 jobs in 2025 to 1,305,600 in 2035, a change of +0.9%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 156,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 12.1% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $38,020 for this occupation; the Crittenden County, AR median of $35,100 is 7.7% below it.
How pay in Crittenden County, AR compares
Compared with the Arkansas average
Pay for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR is in line with the statewide figure: $35,100 locally against an employment-weighted Arkansas average of $35,367, a difference of only $267 (0.8%).
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Security Guards is $39,162 across the contiguous United States. At $35,100, Crittenden County, AR pays $4,062 less, which is 10.4% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Crittenden County, AR
Among the 502 occupations with published wages in Crittenden County, AR, Security Guards ranks number 448 by median pay, ahead of about 11% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $102,510 a year, which is $67,410 more than the median for Security Guards.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $35,100 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $5,929 a year, which leaves $29,171, or $2,431 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $19,350. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,084, an effective 5.9% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,176 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $509. FICA totals $2,685, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Arkansas
Arkansas income tax on this salary is $1,160 a year, or 3.3% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 56% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $97 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Crittenden County, AR
IRS Statistics of Income data for Crittenden County, AR show an average adjusted gross income of $57,381 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.5% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 3.7%, compared with the 5.9% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Crittenden County, AR
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Crittenden County, AR: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $29,171 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Crittenden County, AR is $1,191 a month, or $14,292 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,301 a month. For Security Guards, a one-bedroom absorbs 49.0% of take-home pay and 40.7% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 9.8% of gross pay for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Arkansas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,302 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $643, for $1,944 in total. Gasoline in Arkansas averages $2.93 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,354.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $21,026 a year, 72% of take-home pay. That leaves $8,145 a year, or $679 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 23.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Crittenden County, AR
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Crittenden County, AR: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Crittenden County, AR, set beside the Arkansas and national medians.
Property taxes in Crittenden County, AR
Homeowners in Crittenden County, AR pay a median of $987 a year in real estate taxes, 5% below the Arkansas median of $1,040 and 68% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $160,200, the median tax bill is 0.62% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Security Guards median of $35,100, a tax bill of that size would equal 2.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Crittenden County, AR
Renters in Crittenden County, AR pay a median gross rent of $911 a month in the Census survey, 4% below the Arkansas median of $947. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,191 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $160,200, 15% below the Arkansas median of $188,000. Median household income is $55,358, 9% below the Arkansas median of $60,773, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 25.8% of that income.
Commuting in Crittenden County, AR
Workers in Crittenden County, AR who travel to a workplace spend an average of 22.5 minutes each way, in line with the Arkansas average of 22.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 7.1% of workers in Crittenden County, AR work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Security Guards afford to live in Crittenden County, AR?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $35,100 that ceiling is $878 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,191 is $314 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.90 an hour; the median for Security Guards is $16.88, which is 26% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.02 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 19.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,301 a month means $651 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,486 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,631.
How fast you can save
At $679 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 15 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 30 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Security Guards pay in Crittenden County, AR
What is the hourly wage for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR?
The median is $16.88 per hour, based on $35,100 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.97 at the 10th percentile to $22.08 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $35,100 becomes $29,171 a year. That is $2,431 a month, $1,122 every two weeks or $561 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR?
Total taxes are $5,929 a year, an effective rate of 16.9%: $2,084 federal income tax, $2,685 FICA and $1,160 Arkansas income tax.
Is pay for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR above the Arkansas average?
It is about the same. The local median of $35,100 is within 0.8% of the Arkansas average of $35,367.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Security Guards salary in Crittenden County, AR?
A one-bedroom costs $1,191 a month against take-home pay of $2,431, which is 49.0% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $878 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Security Guards in Crittenden County, AR?
About $679 a month ($8,145 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,026 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Crittenden County, AR at the 30% guideline?
$22.90 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,292 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Security Guards is $16.88.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Arkansas rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.