Chicago Security Jobs Guide
Every role and what it pays, the licensing path, top employers, and where the metro is hiring. The complete map of security officer work in Chicago for 2026.
15Roles Covered
$18-25Typical Pay
2026Updated
Every role and what it pays, the licensing path, top employers, and where the metro is hiring. The complete map of security officer work in Chicago for 2026.
Chicago is one of the largest and steadiest security markets in the country. Between downtown Class A high-rises, a deep hospital and university base, the O'Hare and Midway airports, and one of North America's biggest logistics corridors in the western and southern suburbs, the metro generates a constant flow of openings across every kind of post.
Turnover across the industry keeps positions opening year-round, and the field of niche job sites serving Chicago officers is thin, which is exactly why a focused resource is worth using. This guide maps the roles, the pay, the licensing, and where the hiring is.
Chicago hires across the full range of security work. Here is every role we track, each with its own openings and pay:
Unarmed officers generally earn about 18 to 20 dollars an hour, armed roles about 22 to 25 and up, and overnight and specialized posts pay differentials that push higher. Illinois sits at the lower end nationally, so the way to earn more is through shift, specialty, and credentials. The full breakdown is in the Illinois security officer salary guide.
To work security in Illinois you need a PERC card and the 20-hour basic training, both handled through IDFPR. Armed work adds a FOID card, a Firearm Control Card, firearm training, and range qualification. Start with the how-to-become guide for the full step-by-step, or go straight to the PERC card guide and the armed license guide.
The large national contractors, Allied Universal, Securitas, and GardaWorld, hire continuously across the metro, alongside Chicago-based firms like Titan (now Marksman Titan), Monterrey Security, and Sunstates. Beyond contractors, major hospital systems (Rush, Advocate, Northwestern Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine) and universities (UChicago, UIC, Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola) hire security in-house, and those roles often add benefits.
Downtown and the Loop drive corporate, high-rise, and hotel demand. The hospital systems and universities hire across the city and near suburbs. O'Hare and Midway anchor airport and TSA work. And the western and southern collar counties, Joliet, Elwood, Aurora, Bolingbrook, and Elk Grove Village, are thick with warehouse, distribution, data center, and manufacturing posts, most of which lean overnight. If you want night hours, the corridor is where to look.
The collar counties are hiring heavily, especially across the logistics corridor. Browse security officer jobs by suburb:
Common questions about security work in Chicago.
New security officer openings posted regularly across Chicago. Be first.