What Security Guards earn in Skamania County, WA
The median pay for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA is $46,820 per year, which works out to $22.51 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metropolitan area, the labor market that Skamania County, WA 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 $47,960, which is 2.4% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 9,110 people working in this occupation across the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Skamania County, WA has roughly 12,402 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 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $38,360 a year ($18.44 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $60,020 or more ($28.86 an hour). That is a gap of $21,660 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $43,610 at the 25th percentile and $49,070 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA is $22.51. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $46,820, and the same salary is $3,902 a month before taxes or about $1,801 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $19.11 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 Skamania County, WA median of $46,820 is 23.1% above it.
How pay in Skamania County, WA compares
Compared with the Washington average
Pay for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA is in line with the statewide figure: $46,820 locally against an employment-weighted Washington average of $46,540, a difference of only $280 (0.6%). Within Washington, the highest median we track for this job is $47,490 in King County, WA.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Security Guards is $39,162 across the contiguous United States. At $46,820, Skamania County, WA pays $7,658 more, which is 19.6% above 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 Skamania County, WA
Among the 592 occupations with published wages in Skamania County, WA, Security Guards ranks number 505 by median pay, ahead of about 15% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $156,000 a year, which is $109,180 more than the median for Security Guards.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $46,820 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $7,072 a year, which leaves $39,748, or $3,312 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.1%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $31,070. 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 $3,490, an effective 7.5% 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 $2,903 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $679. FICA totals $3,582, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Washington
There is no state income tax on wages in Washington, which means Security Guards in Skamania County, WA keep the full $39,748 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,341 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $195 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Skamania County, WA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Skamania County, WA show an average adjusted gross income of $99,308 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.9% 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 7.5% 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 Skamania County, WA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Skamania County, WA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $39,748 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Skamania County, WA is $1,633 a month, or $19,596 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,878 a month. For Security Guards, a one-bedroom absorbs 49.3% of take-home pay and 41.9% 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 7.3% of gross pay for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Washington residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,257 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $475, for $1,732 in total. Gasoline in Washington averages $4.07 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,883.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $26,646 a year, 67% of take-home pay. That leaves $13,102 a year, or $1,092 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 28.0% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Skamania County, WA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Skamania County, WA: 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 Skamania County, WA, set beside the Washington and national medians.
Property taxes in Skamania County, WA
Homeowners in Skamania County, WA pay a median of $3,532 a year in real estate taxes, 22% below the Washington median of $4,556 and 13% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $529,500, the median tax bill is 0.67% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Security Guards median of $46,820, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Skamania County, WA
Renters in Skamania County, WA pay a median gross rent of $1,068 a month in the Census survey, 39% below the Washington median of $1,760. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,633 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 $529,500, 6% below the Washington median of $564,600. Median household income is $93,265, 5% below the Washington median of $98,141, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.0% of that income.
Commuting in Skamania County, WA
Workers in Skamania County, WA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 32.9 minutes each way, 24% above the Washington average of 26.6. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 17.4% of workers in Skamania County, WA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Security Guards afford to live in Skamania County, WA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $46,820 that ceiling is $1,171 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,633 is $463 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.40 an hour; the median for Security Guards is $22.51, which is 28% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $19.11 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 19.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,878 a month means $939 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,328 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $21,430.
How fast you can save
At $1,092 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 10 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 20 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Security Guards pay in Skamania County, WA
What is the hourly wage for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA?
The median is $22.51 per hour, based on $46,820 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.44 at the 10th percentile to $28.86 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $46,820 becomes $39,748 a year. That is $3,312 a month, $1,529 every two weeks or $764 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA?
Total taxes are $7,072 a year, an effective rate of 15.1%: $3,490 federal income tax, $3,582 FICA and no Washington income tax.
Is pay for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA above the Washington average?
It is about the same. The local median of $46,820 is within 0.6% of the Washington average of $46,540.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Security Guards salary in Skamania County, WA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,633 a month against take-home pay of $3,312, which is 49.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,171 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Security Guards in Skamania County, WA?
About $1,092 a month ($13,102 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,646 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Skamania County, WA at the 30% guideline?
$31.40 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,596 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Security Guards is $22.51.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 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 Washington 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.