Security Guard Cost in California 2026

Unarmed officers run $23–$36/hr in California. Armed officers run $36–$85/hr. Mobile patrol runs $30–$65 per visit. ShieldWise prices in two regional bands: Southern California metro, and higher-cost or outlying areas. Cannabis, jewelry, banking, and executive-protection work prices at the top of the armed range in either band. Standard commercial patrol is where most businesses end up.

ShieldWise (BSIS PPO #122008) covers every California county from our Riverside HQ. The rest of this page breaks the price down line-by-line, by region and by service type, so you can match a quote against the math instead of a sales pitch.

California security guard pricing by service type

Related cost guides

Looking for more detail on one billing model or guard type? These guides break down the numbers above in more depth:

What actually drives the price in California

1. BSIS licensing and guard card requirements

Every California security guard needs a current guard card from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Licensed companies like ShieldWise (PPO #122008) pay for ongoing training, background checks, and license renewals, and those costs sit inside our rates. If a vendor's pricing looks too cheap, ask for the PPO number first. Hiring an unlicensed guard is the property owner's liability, not the vendor's.

2. Regional pricing band

ShieldWise prices in two regional bands rather than a single statewide rate. Southern California metro covers Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, plus larger inland cities such as Temecula. Higher-cost and outlying areas include the Bay Area and San Francisco, where wages run higher, and more remote communities such as Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Lancaster, where travel time and staffing availability add cost.

Fire watch runs $23–$36/hr statewide, billed at the unarmed rate, regardless of region.

3. Contract length and volume

Monthly retainers almost always cost less per hour than one-off or short-term deployments. Three months or more of committed service, or five or more officers running at the same time, usually earns a 10–20% volume discount.

4. Shift timing

Overnight shifts (roughly 10pm–6am) and holiday coverage cost 10–20% more than daytime hours. California shift-differential rules require it, and the staffing market backs it up, fewer officers want overnight posts, so filling those shifts reliably costs more.

5. Industry and risk level

Cannabis dispensaries, jewelry retailers, banks, and data centers need officers with specialized training and carry higher liability exposure. These price at the top of the range. Standard retail and office coverage prices at the bottom.

Cost examples: common California security scenarios

Overnight and 24-hour security guard cost

Overnight and 24-hour requests are common enough to break out on their own. Overnight shifts, roughly 10pm to 6am, run 10–20% above daytime rates for the same guard type and region, the same shift-timing adjustment that applies everywhere else on this page. A property that only needs a single overnight post — a construction site, a warehouse, an apartment complex after hours — prices the same way as any other shift: pick unarmed or armed, apply the regional band, then account for that overnight adjustment.

24-hour coverage is a different calculation entirely. No individual officer works all 24 hours of a day, every day of a week. Covering a post around the clock takes multiple officers rotating standard-length shifts, which means a 24-hour quote reflects total coverage hours across however many guards it takes to fill the schedule, not one person's paycheck stretched across the clock. A cannabis dispensary running 24/7 armed coverage, for example, typically needs two or more armed officers rotating shifts to keep the post continuously staffed, plus holiday coverage on top of that when a shift falls on one.

Because the real total depends on how many hours of coverage you need across a full month rather than a single shift, the clearest way to see the number is monthly, not hourly. Our security guard cost per month breakdown works through exactly this: a nights-and-weekends schedule, a 12-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week schedule, and a full 24/7 schedule, each one calculated from the hourly rates on this page so you can see where the monthly number actually comes from.

How to get an accurate quote

Every property prices differently. The fastest way to get a real number is a free site walk-through, usually 30–45 minutes. We look at:

• Property size, entry points, and perimeter
• Hours of coverage you actually need
• Existing cameras, alarms, and access control
• Industry-specific risk factors
• Past incidents on the property or nearby

Service areas by county

Find your county below to see local service details:

Three things move a quote inside these ranges — whether the contract is temporary or ongoing, how far the site is from our existing coverage, and the risk level of the location.