A security officer working the night shift at a Hickory Hill apartment complex told me last week he’d just gotten his third raise in eighteen months. Not a cost-of-living bump. A real raise. His company moved him from $12.50 to $14.75 an hour since January 2022, and he’s heard the number might climb again before Christmas.
Two years ago, that kind of pay increase would have been unthinkable in Memphis private security. The industry spent a decade treating guard wages like a fixed cost, something you kept as low as possible to protect margins. That math doesn’t work anymore. And if you run a security company in this city or hire one to protect your property, the shift affects you directly.
The Numbers Tell the Story
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national median wage for security guards and gaming surveillance officers hit $15.26 per hour in May 2022, the most recent annual data available. That’s up from $14.30 in 2020. Tennessee’s numbers ran slightly lower, with the state median sitting around $14.50 for unarmed guards and closer to $16 for armed officers.
Memphis has historically trailed those benchmarks. The metro area’s cost of living runs about 14% below the national average, and security companies used that gap to justify lower starting wages. For years, $10 to $12 an hour was standard for an unarmed post in Shelby County. Armed positions paid more, typically $13 to $15, though the range varied wildly depending on the contract.
That floor is rising fast. Job postings on Indeed and ZipRecruiter through the first half of 2023 show Memphis-area security companies advertising starting wages of $13 to $15 for unarmed positions and $15 to $18 for armed roles. Some overnight or high-risk posts are hitting $20. The days of filling a guard position at $10 an hour in this city are over.
FedEx, Amazon, and the Competition Problem
The biggest driver isn’t generosity. It’s competition from industries that don’t require a TDCI registration or a background check.
FedEx, headquartered right here in Memphis, operates its massive World Hub at Memphis International Airport along with distribution centers scattered across the metro. Seasonal hiring pushes for the holiday rush start as early as August, and starting wages for package handlers have climbed above $17 an hour with shift differentials. Amazon’s fulfinary centers in the area offer similar starting pay, sometimes higher.
For someone choosing between standing outside a parking garage at midnight for $12 an hour or sorting packages for $17 with benefits, the decision isn’t complicated. Security companies have watched their applicant pools shrink every year since 2020, and the pandemic accelerated the bleed.
It’s not just logistics. Kroger, McDonald’s, and Walmart locations across Memphis are advertising starting wages that match or beat what many security posts were paying two years ago. When a fast food job pays the same as an armed guard position, something in the market is broken.
Who’s Adjusting and Who’s Falling Behind
The national companies moved first. Allied Universal, which absorbed G4S in 2021 and operates as the largest security employer in the country, has raised its Memphis-area starting wages multiple times since 2021. Securitas, the second largest, did the same after completing its merger with Stanley Security in late 2022. Both companies have the scale to absorb higher labor costs by spreading them across thousands of contracts.
Mid-size regional firms are in a tighter spot. They don’t have the same margin cushion, and many operate on contracts written two or three years ago with fixed pricing. Raising wages means either renegotiating every contract or eating the cost.
Some smaller companies have found ways to compete. Shield of Steel, a veteran-owned firm operating out of 2682 Lamar Avenue since 1998, has been offering competitive wages for armed officers by keeping its overhead lean and focusing on direct client relationships rather than chasing volume. The company covers contracts statewide across Tennessee, from Memphis to Nashville and Knoxville, which gives its staff options for different assignments and schedules.
There are trade-offs with a smaller operation, though. A guard working for Allied Universal or Securitas has a clear advancement ladder: shift supervisor, site manager, regional operations, corporate roles. At a firm like Shield of Steel, the paths are shorter. The company also doesn’t carry the same name recognition, which matters when property managers are choosing between proposals. Still, for officers who want to work for a company where the owner picks up the phone and the assignments aren’t just whatever post nobody else wants, smaller firms have a real recruiting edge right now.
The Licensing Bottleneck
Higher wages alone won’t solve the staffing crunch. Tennessee’s Private Protective Services licensing process, administered by TDCI under T.C.A. Section 62-35-101, requires background checks, training hours, and registration fees that create a pipeline delay. An applicant can’t just walk in on Monday and start working on Tuesday.
Armed guard registration adds another layer. Applicants need to complete firearms training, pass a qualification course, and submit additional paperwork. The whole process can take weeks, sometimes longer if TDCI is processing a backlog.
For companies trying to fill posts quickly, especially in a summer when Memphis heat makes outdoor assignments even less appealing, the licensing timeline creates a real bottleneck. You can offer $18 an hour for an armed position at a Wolfchase-area retail property and still wait three weeks before the new hire can legally stand post.
Some companies have started covering the cost of registration and training for new hires, essentially paying people to get licensed. It’s an investment that makes sense when the alternative is turning down contracts because you can’t staff them.
What This Means for Property Managers
If you’re a facility manager or property owner contracting security in Shelby County, expect your costs to rise. The question isn’t whether your security provider will ask for a rate increase. The question is when.
A guard posting that cost $18 to $20 per hour fully billed (including the company’s overhead, insurance, and margin on top of the guard’s wage) in 2021 is now running $22 to $26 for comparable quality. Armed posts are higher. And the companies that aren’t raising their rates? They’re probably losing their best people to companies that are.
The smart move for property managers right now is to have an honest conversation with your provider about retention. Ask them directly: what’s your turnover rate? How many of the officers on my property have been there more than six months? If the answers aren’t good, the low bill rate you’re paying is costing you in other ways. High turnover means guards who don’t know your property, don’t know your tenants, and don’t know the patterns that keep a site secure.
The Temp-to-Perm Shift
One trend worth watching: several Memphis property management companies have started converting contract security positions to in-house roles. Rather than paying a security company’s markup, they’re hiring guards directly, offering benefits, and building dedicated teams for their properties.
A property management group with a portfolio of East Memphis office buildings told me they made the switch in early 2023 and cut their per-hour cost by about 15% while actually paying their officers more. The trade-off is taking on the administrative burden of scheduling, training, compliance, and liability insurance directly.
It’s not a move that works for everyone. Single-property owners or companies with just a few locations usually don’t have the infrastructure to manage a security team in-house. For them, the contract model still makes sense. You just need to budget for what that contract actually costs in 2023, not what it cost in 2020.
Where This Goes From Here
Memphis security wages aren’t going back down. The labor market fundamentals that pushed them up, competition from logistics and retail, post-COVID workforce expectations, rising costs of living in even affordable cities, those forces aren’t temporary.
The companies that figure out how to pay well, retain experienced staff, and still deliver competitive pricing to clients will own this market over the next few years. The ones still trying to fill posts at $11 an hour will keep losing people to Amazon warehouses and FedEx sorting facilities.
For the guard working that night shift in Hickory Hill, the raise is welcome. He told me he’s thinking about getting his armed certification, which would push his pay above $16. That’s still not a lot of money for a job that occasionally puts you between a property and someone who wants to take something from it. It’s more than it was, though. And in Memphis, that counts for something.