What Security Guards earn in Travis County, TX
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $37,920: the median annual pay for Security Guards in Travis County, TX. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $18.23 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $41,500, which is 9.4% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,410 people working in this occupation across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Travis County, TX has roughly 1,330,015 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $28,810 a year ($13.85 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $54,300 or more ($26.11 an hour). That is a gap of $25,490 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $31,550 at the 25th percentile and $46,470 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.9 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 Travis County, TX is $18.23. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $37,920, and the same salary is $3,160 a month before taxes or about $1,458 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $15.67 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 Travis County, TX median of $37,920 is 0.3% below it.
How pay in Travis County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
Travis County, TX pays above the state benchmark. The Texas employment-weighted average for Security Guards is $35,521; the local median of $37,920 beats it by $2,399, or 6.8%. Within Texas, Travis County, TX 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 $37,920, Travis County, TX pays $1,242 less, which is 3.2% 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 Travis County, TX
Among the 528 occupations with published wages in Travis County, TX, Security Guards ranks number 467 by median pay, ahead of about 12% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $176,990 a year, which is $139,070 more than the median for Security Guards.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $37,920 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 $5,323 a year, which leaves $32,597, or $2,716 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $14 goes to taxes and $86 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 14.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $22,170. 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 $2,422, an effective 6.4% 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 $2,351 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $550. FICA totals $2,901, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Texas
There is no state income tax on wages in Texas, which means Security Guards in Travis County, TX keep the full $32,597 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $1,896 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $158 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Travis County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Travis County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $150,791 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 19.2% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.0%, compared with the 6.4% 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 Travis County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Travis County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $32,597 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Travis County, TX is $1,530 a month, or $18,360 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,817 a month. For Security Guards, a one-bedroom absorbs 56.3% of take-home pay and 48.4% 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 9.1% of gross pay for Security Guards in Travis County, TX. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Texas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,578 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $719, for $2,297 in total. Gasoline in Texas averages $2.88 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,334.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $25,427 a year, 78% of take-home pay. That leaves $7,170 a year, or $598 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 18.9% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Travis County, TX
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Travis County, TX: 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 Travis County, TX, set beside the Texas and national medians.
Property taxes in Travis County, TX
Homeowners in Travis County, TX pay a median of $7,727 a year in real estate taxes, 83% above the Texas median of $4,232 and 148% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $523,000, the median tax bill is 1.48% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Security Guards median of $37,920, a tax bill of that size would equal 20.4% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Travis County, TX
Renters in Travis County, TX pay a median gross rent of $1,744 a month in the Census survey, 24% above the Texas median of $1,403. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,530 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 $523,000, 84% above the Texas median of $283,800. Median household income is $99,611, 27% above the Texas median of $78,476, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 18.4% of that income.
Commuting in Travis County, TX
Workers in Travis County, TX who travel to a workplace spend an average of 25.2 minutes each way, 6% below the Texas average of 26.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.2 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 30.2% of workers in Travis County, TX work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Security Guards afford to live in Travis County, TX?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $37,920 that ceiling is $948 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,530 is $582 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.42 an hour; the median for Security Guards is $18.23, which is 38% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.67 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 22.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,817 a month means $909 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,458 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,628.
How fast you can save
At $598 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 17 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 34 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Security Guards pay in Travis County, TX
What is the hourly wage for Security Guards in Travis County, TX?
The median is $18.23 per hour, based on $37,920 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.85 at the 10th percentile to $26.11 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Security Guards in Travis County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $37,920 becomes $32,597 a year. That is $2,716 a month, $1,254 every two weeks or $627 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Security Guards in Travis County, TX?
Total taxes are $5,323 a year, an effective rate of 14.0%: $2,422 federal income tax, $2,901 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Is pay for Security Guards in Travis County, TX above the Texas average?
Yes. The local median of $37,920 is +6.8% versus the Texas average of $35,521, a difference of $2,399 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Security Guards salary in Travis County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $1,530 a month against take-home pay of $2,716, which is 56.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $948 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Security Guards in Travis County, TX?
About $598 a month ($7,170 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $25,427 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Travis County, TX at the 30% guideline?
$29.42 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,360 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Security Guards is $18.23.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 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 Texas 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.