Security Guards salary in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

The figures

The median Security Guards in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area earns $44,990 a year ($21.63 an hour), according to the BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates (full citation in Sources). The middle half of Security Guards in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH earn between $38,860 and $46,420 a year. At the ends of the distribution, the lowest-paid 10 percent earn $35,780 or less and the top 10 percent earn $56,450 or more. BLS estimates 19,250 Security Guards jobs in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area — 7.118 of every 1,000 jobs in the area, a location quotient of 0.86 (below the national concentration). That is 1.5% of all Security Guards employment in the United States (1,283,470 jobs nationally). By employment, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH is the #13 largest of the 25 covered metro areas for Security Guards. In aggregate, Security Guards in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH earn about $0.88 billion a year (BLS employment multiplied by the mean wage). At the mean wage, the engine's take-home is $36,889.96 a year, so the aggregate take-home of Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Security Guards is about $0.71 billion. BLS reports a relative standard error of 1.3% for this employment estimate. Ranked by median pay, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH stands #6 of the 25 metro areas covered on this site for Security Guards. By employment, Security Guards is the #23 largest of the 30 covered occupations in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH. Placed against the national distribution for Security Guards, the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median of $44,990 falls between the national median ($38,020) and the national 75th percentile ($46,200). Across all occupations, the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median is $66,620 a year — Security Guards pay is 32.5% below the area's overall median.

Wages in detail

What the wage distribution says

The top 10 percent of Security Guards in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH earn 1.6 times what the bottom 10 percent earn ($56,450 against $35,780). The middle half spans $7,560 — from $38,860 to $46,420. Hourly, the 90th percentile ($27.14) is 1.58 times the 10th ($17.20). In the upper half of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH distribution, the 75th percentile wage of $46,420 takes home $37,477.56 and the 90th percentile wage of $56,450 takes home $45,035.22 — $7,557.66 more net for $10,030 more gross. Against the median take-home of $36,400.12, the top decile keeps 1.24 times as much. The mean wage of $45,640 sits 1.4% above the median: higher-paid Security Guards pull the average up in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH. Among the 30 covered occupations in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, Security Guards ranks #24 by median pay. In the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH wage ladder of covered occupations, Security Guards sits between Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand at $45,600 and Home Health and Personal Care Aides at $40,910. Security Guards accounts for 0.7% of all employment in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area. The average covered metro employs 28,378 Security Guards; Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH employs 0.7 times that.

Take-home pay on the median wage in Massachusetts

Single filer, no dependents, no pre-tax contributions, paid biweekly, a full year of W-2 wages in Massachusetts; city and local taxes are not included:

At the median, $36,400.12 of the $44,990 gross is kept ($1,400.00 per paycheck) — a deduction rate of 19.09%. The deduction rate moves with pay: 17.66% at the 10th percentile, 18.22% at the 25th percentile, 19.26% at the 75th percentile, 20.22% at the 90th percentile. Between the 25th and 75th percentile wages, annual take-home rises by $5,696.58 on a gross rise of $7,560.

The same engine at the other published points of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH wage distribution:

Across the published distribution, take-home pay runs from $29,460.44 a year at the 10th percentile to $45,035.22 at the 90th — a spread of $15,574.78 of net pay inside one occupation and one metro area.

For scale: across all occupations, the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median wage of $66,620 takes home $52,686.34 a year ($2,026.40 per paycheck, deduction rate 20.92%). The Security Guards median take-home of $36,400.12 sits $16,286.22 (below that area-wide figure.

Multi-state metro area. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH also covers parts of New Hampshire. The take-home estimate above uses Massachusetts rules — the metro area's primary state. If the job is based in another part of the metro area, the state tax changes: see the New Hampshire paycheck calculator.

Run your own numbers

Your own withholding depends on your Form W-4, your benefits and your other income — run your exact figures through the calculator:

Take-home pay for $44,990 in Massachusetts

Against the national median

Nationally, the median Security Guards earns $38,020 a year ($18.28 an hour). The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH median of $44,990 is $6,970 (18.3%) above the national median.

The means rank the area the same way: $45,640 a year in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH against $42,470 nationally, a gap of $3,170 (7.5%).

Set against the whole local market, the Security Guards 90th percentile of $56,450 is 34% of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH all-occupations 90th percentile ($168,090), and its 10th percentile of $35,780 is 97% of the area-wide 10th ($36,760).

Sources and method

Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates (released May 15, 2026), retrieved October 27, 2026 — bls.gov/oes. OEWS figures are survey estimates for May 2025, not job offers. Take-home pay is computed by this site's paycheck engine with 2026 federal and state rules; the method, and what the engine does not model, is documented in the paycheck methodology guide. Estimates only — not tax advice.