How Much to Charge for Security Guard Services Per Hour
Unarmed guard services typically bill at $22–$35 per hour, armed at $35–$60, and supervisors at $35–$55, built from the guard's wage plus a burden of roughly 25–40% for taxes, insurance, workers' comp, uniforms, and training, plus a gross margin of 30–50%. Overtime bills at the contracted OT rate, holidays at 1.5×–2×, and most companies hold a four-hour minimum per post and a higher rate for short-notice or event coverage.
Typical bill rates
- Unarmed guard — $22–$35/hr
- Armed guard — $35–$60/hr
- Supervisor / site lead — $35–$55/hr
- Vehicle patrol — $35–$65/hr or per patrol
- Event / crowd control — $30–$55/hr
- Executive protection — $75–$150+/hr
- Short-notice / emergency coverage — premium above standard
Build the rate, don’t guess it
- Guard wage — the market rate you can actually hire at
- Burden — 25–40% for payroll taxes, workers’ comp, liability insurance, uniforms, training
- Target gross margin — 30–50%
- Formula — wage × (1 + burden) ÷ (1 − margin)
A rate you can’t reconstruct from a wage is a rate you’ll eventually discover was wrong, usually at the worst possible scale.
Price the shifts by difficulty
Overnight, weekend, holiday, armed, and remote posts are all harder to fill. Set separate rates per post type, because a blended rate just means your easiest posts are quietly funding your hardest ones.
Hold the minimums
Four hours per post, and a stated minimum for event bookings. Guards don’t reliably accept two-hour assignments, and short posts still consume the same scheduling effort as long ones.
Write in the escalator
Guard wages move faster than almost any other trade’s costs.
A wage-escalation clause tied to minimum wage or a stated annual percentage is what keeps a three-year contract from quietly becoming a three-year loss.
Emergency work is not a favor
Short-notice coverage pulls guards from other assignments and usually triggers overtime. Price it distinctly and quote it without hesitation — a client calling for coverage tonight has a problem that costs them far more than your premium.
Frequently asked questions
How do I build a bill rate from a wage?
Wage × (1 + burden) ÷ (1 − target margin). A $17 wage with 32% burden and a 35% margin gives roughly $34.50. Working forward from wage is the only way to know whether a contract you're bidding is actually profitable at volume.
Why is a single blended rate a problem?
Because overnight, armed, and holiday posts cost you more to staff and are harder to fill. One rate across all of them means the easy shifts subsidize the hard ones — and the hard ones are exactly what clients call you about.
What minimum should a post carry?
Four hours is standard. Guards won't accept two-hour assignments reliably, and short posts still cost a full commute and a scheduling slot at both ends.
How do I raise rates when wages rise?
Write a wage-escalation clause into the contract tied to minimum wage changes or a stated annual percentage. Guard wages move faster than most trades' costs, and a contract with no escalator becomes unprofitable without anyone doing anything wrong.