What Security Guards earn in Richmond city, VA
The median pay for Security Guards in Richmond city, VA is $36,960 per year, which works out to $17.77 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Richmond, VA metropolitan area, the labor market that Richmond city, VA 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 $42,150, which is 14.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 4,630 people working in this occupation across the Richmond, VA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Richmond city, VA has roughly 229,359 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 Richmond, VA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $30,790 a year ($14.80 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $61,990 or more ($29.80 an hour). That is a gap of $31,200 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $35,210 at the 25th percentile and $46,040 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.0 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: $17.77 an hour or $36,960 a year at the median for Richmond city, VA. Before any deductions, that is $3,080 a month, $1,422 every two weeks and $711 each week. After taxes the same job pays $14.66 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 Richmond city, VA median of $36,960 is 2.8% below it.
How pay in Richmond city, VA compares
Compared with the Virginia average
Pay in Richmond city, VA runs $7,145 below the Virginia average of $44,105, a gap of 16.2%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Virginia would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Virginia, the highest median we track for this job is $46,830 in Fairfax County, VA.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Security Guards is $39,162 across the contiguous United States. At $36,960, Richmond city, VA pays $2,202 less, which is 5.6% 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 Richmond city, VA
Among the 516 occupations with published wages in Richmond city, VA, Security Guards ranks number 470 by median pay, ahead of about 9% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $132,120 a year, which is $95,160 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 Richmond city, VA median of $36,960, they add up to $6,460. The result is $30,500 of take-home pay a year ($2,542 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $21,210. 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 $2,307, an effective 6.2% 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 $2,292 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $536. FICA totals $2,827, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Virginia
Virginia income tax on this salary is $1,325 a year, or 3.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 57% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $110 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 Richmond city, VA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Richmond city, VA show an average adjusted gross income of $91,259 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.0% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.5%, compared with the 6.2% 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 Richmond city, VA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Richmond city, VA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $30,500 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Richmond city, VA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,517 a month ($18,204 a year), and at $1,651 for two bedrooms. For Security Guards, a one-bedroom absorbs 59.7% of take-home pay and 49.3% 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 9.3% of gross pay for Security Guards in Richmond city, VA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Virginia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,523 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $597, for $2,119 in total. Gasoline in Virginia averages $3.09 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,429.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $25,188 a year in Richmond city, VA. Subtract that from $30,500 of take-home pay and $5,313 remains, which is $443 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 14.4% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Richmond city, VA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Richmond city, VA: 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 Richmond city, VA, set beside the Virginia and national medians.
Property taxes in Richmond city, VA
Homeowners in Richmond city, VA pay a median of $3,150 a year in real estate taxes, 13% above the Virginia median of $2,790 and in line with the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $353,000, the median tax bill is 0.89% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Security Guards median of $36,960, a tax bill of that size would equal 8.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Richmond city, VA
Renters in Richmond city, VA pay a median gross rent of $1,372 a month in the Census survey, 13% below the Virginia median of $1,579. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,517 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 $353,000, 8% below the Virginia median of $383,700. Median household income is $64,587, 31% below the Virginia median of $93,170, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 28.2% of that income.
Commuting in Richmond city, VA
Workers in Richmond city, VA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 21.7 minutes each way, 21% below the Virginia average of 27.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.6 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 19.5% of workers in Richmond city, VA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Security Guards afford to live in Richmond city, VA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $36,960 that ceiling is $924 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,517 is $593 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.17 an hour; the median for Security Guards is $17.77, which is 39% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.66 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 23.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,651 a month means $826 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,298 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $13,611.
How fast you can save
At $443 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 23 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 46 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Security Guards pay in Richmond city, VA
How much do Security Guards make per hour in Richmond city, VA?
The median is $17.77 per hour, based on $36,960 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.80 at the 10th percentile to $29.80 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Security Guards take home after taxes in Richmond city, VA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $36,960 becomes $30,500 a year. That is $2,542 a month, $1,173 every two weeks or $587 a week.
How much tax do Security Guards pay in Richmond city, VA?
Total taxes are $6,460 a year, an effective rate of 17.5%: $2,307 federal income tax, $2,827 FICA and $1,325 Virginia income tax.
Do Security Guards earn more in Richmond city, VA than elsewhere in Virginia?
No. The local median of $36,960 is -16.2% versus the Virginia average of $44,105, a difference of $7,145 a year.
Can Security Guards afford a one-bedroom apartment in Richmond city, VA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,517 a month against take-home pay of $2,542, which is 59.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $924 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Security Guards in Richmond city, VA?
About $443 a month ($5,313 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $25,188 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Richmond city, VA at the 30% guideline?
$29.17 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,204 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Security Guards is $17.77.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Richmond, VA 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 Virginia 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.