What Security Guards earn in Benton County, MS
The median pay for Security Guards in Benton County, MS is $35,100 per year, which works out to $16.88 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan area, the labor market that Benton County, MS belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
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. Benton County, MS has roughly 7,589 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
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $16.88 an hour or $35,100 a year at the median for Benton County, MS. Before any deductions, that is $2,925 a month, $1,350 every two weeks and $675 each week. After taxes the same job pays $14.23 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 Benton County, MS median of $35,100 is 7.7% below it.
How pay in Benton County, MS compares
Compared with the Mississippi average
A worker in this occupation in Benton County, MS earns $2,944 more than the Mississippi average of $32,156, a premium of 9.2%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,944 before tax and roughly $2,482 after tax. Within Mississippi, Benton County, MS already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Security Guards is $39,162 across the contiguous United States. At $35,100, Benton County, MS 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 Benton County, MS
Among the 502 occupations with published wages in Benton County, MS, 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
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Security Guards earning the Benton County, MS median of $35,100, they add up to $5,508. The result is $29,592 of take-home pay a year ($2,466 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.7%.
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 Mississippi
Mississippi income tax on this salary is $739 a year, or 2.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 35% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $62 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 Benton County, MS
IRS Statistics of Income data for Benton County, MS show an average adjusted gross income of $46,840 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 8.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 3.8%, 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 Benton County, MS
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Benton County, MS: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $29,592 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Benton County, MS, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $827 a month ($9,924 a year), and at $905 for two bedrooms. For Security Guards, a one-bedroom absorbs 33.5% of take-home pay and 28.3% 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 Benton County, MS. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Mississippi residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,415 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $612, for $2,028 in total. Gasoline in Mississippi averages $2.90 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,342.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $16,730 a year in Benton County, MS. Subtract that from $29,592 of take-home pay and $12,862 remains, which is $1,072 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 36.6% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Benton County, MS
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Benton County, MS: 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 Benton County, MS, set beside the Mississippi and national medians.
Property taxes in Benton County, MS
Homeowners in Benton County, MS pay a median of $720 a year in real estate taxes, 41% below the Mississippi median of $1,215 and 77% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $105,100, the median tax bill is 0.69% 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 2.1% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Benton County, MS
Renters in Benton County, MS pay a median gross rent of $731 a month in the Census survey, 23% below the Mississippi median of $954. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $827 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 $105,100, 38% below the Mississippi median of $169,800. Median household income is $46,016, 18% below the Mississippi median of $56,447, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.6% of that income.
Commuting in Benton County, MS
Workers in Benton County, MS who travel to a workplace spend an average of 34.1 minutes each way, 33% above the Mississippi average of 25.6. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 1.9% of workers in Benton County, MS work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Security Guards afford to live in Benton County, MS?
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 $827 is $51 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $15.90 an hour; the median for Security Guards is $16.88, which is 6% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.23 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $905 a month means $453 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $4,494 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $17,356.
How fast you can save
At $1,072 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 10 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 20 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Security Guards pay in Benton County, MS
How much do Security Guards make per hour in Benton County, MS?
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.
How much do Security Guards take home after taxes in Benton County, MS?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $35,100 becomes $29,592 a year. That is $2,466 a month, $1,138 every two weeks or $569 a week.
How much tax do Security Guards pay in Benton County, MS?
Total taxes are $5,508 a year, an effective rate of 15.7%: $2,084 federal income tax, $2,685 FICA and $739 Mississippi income tax.
Do Security Guards earn more in Benton County, MS than elsewhere in Mississippi?
Yes. The local median of $35,100 is +9.2% versus the Mississippi average of $32,156, a difference of $2,944 a year.
Can Security Guards afford a one-bedroom apartment in Benton County, MS?
A one-bedroom costs $827 a month against take-home pay of $2,466, which is 33.5% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $878 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Security Guards in Benton County, MS?
About $1,072 a month ($12,862 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,730 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Benton County, MS at the 30% guideline?
$15.90 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,924 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 Mississippi 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.