Guide
Security guard cost in the Bay Area: hourly prices and monthly estimates
Security guard pricing starts with one number, the rate per guard-hour, and grows with the hours you need covered. Here is what that looks like across HALO’s service area, from unarmed and armed posts to patrol minutes, and how to read a quote.
Security guard cost starts with the guard-hour
Almost every guard contract in the Bay Area is priced the same way: a rate for each hour a guard is on the property, multiplied by the hours you schedule. For a standard on-site guard across HALO’s service area, as of 2026 that rate usually lands between $36 and $50 an hour, with San Francisco’s most demanding posts toward the top of that range. Armed posts sit in a higher band of their own, and the guide to armed and unarmed guard hourly rates shows what moves a post within each one.
The figures on this page are 2026 ranges from published market data, last reviewed in October 2026. HALO sets the real number after reviewing the details you share through the quote form.
Armed security guard cost and the vehicle option
An armed post carries its own band. Going by 2026 market pricing, most armed security guards across HALO’s service area run $60 to $75 per guard-hour, against $36 to $50 for an unarmed officer. Armed officers hold exposed-firearm permits on top of the BSIS guard card every HALO officer carries.
Some posts also need wheels. When a guard covers a long fence line, several buildings or separate parking lots, a vehicle for the shift adds about $7 to $12 an hour on top of the guard rate. An armed 12-hour night post seven days a week works out to about 365 hours a month, or roughly $21,900 to $27,375 before any vehicle, and the security guard cost calculator turns your own hours into a monthly estimate the same way.
Event staffing, patrol visits and camera monitoring
Event security carries its own hourly band because shifts are short, scheduled around a single date and often booked on short notice. Event personnel start around $47 per guard-hour, typically run $49 to $66, and climb to roughly $82 for large or late-running events.
Mobile patrol is priced by the minutes an officer spends on site rather than by the hour: about $2 to $3 a minute, with a five-minute minimum for each visit. A quick drive-by check of a single gate stays close to that minimum, while a visit that walks a lot, a garage or several doors takes longer and costs more.
Live remote video monitoring of existing cameras is priced per camera each month: from about $43, commonly $64 to $175, and up to $350 for the most involved camera setups.
Example: a 40-hour lobby post in Redwood City
Picture an office building in Redwood City that wants a guard at the front desk from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Redwood City’s usual band runs $36 to $49 per guard-hour, so 40 hours comes to $1,440 to $1,960 a week. Over an average month of about 173 hours, the post lands near $6,230 to $8,480.
Adding a Saturday morning or extending into evening access simply adds hours at the same rate, which makes this kind of quote easy to scale up or down.
Example: a 24-hour post in South San Francisco
A biotech campus in South San Francisco that wants a person at its main gate every hour of every day needs a 24-hour post (about 730 hours a month). At the city’s usual $36 to $49 per guard-hour, that single post comes to $26,280 to $35,770 a month.
A campus can compare that against a mixed plan: a daytime post during business hours plus overnight patrol visits. Three 10-minute visits a night for a 30-night month is 90 stops and 900 minutes on site, roughly $1,800 to $2,700 at $2 to $3 a minute, on top of the daytime hours. The guide to choosing a dedicated post or patrol route helps decide which arrangement fits.
Example: an evening event and a camera plan
A corporate reception in San Mateo that books three guards for a six-hour evening uses 18 guard-hours. At typical event pricing of $49 to $66, the shift costs $882 to $1,188.
A Morgan Hill warehouse that wants 12 existing cameras watched each month falls between $768 and $2,100 at typical per-camera pricing, depending mostly on how many hours each view is watched.
How prices change from city to city
Labor is the largest part of any guard rate, yet local labor costs differ only modestly across HALO’s service area. San Francisco sits at the top, typically $37 to $50 an hour with demanding posts near the top of that band.
Outside the city the bands sit close together. Daly City, South San Francisco, San Mateo, Redwood City and Morgan Hill typically run $36 to $49, and Palo Alto $37 to $50, so moving a post between cities changes the price by about a dollar an hour. The hours, the duties and the notice behind a post move a quote far more, and a plan that spans several cities is still priced city by city.
What moves the number higher or lower
Hours are the biggest driver: overnight, weekend and holiday shifts carry higher rates than weekday daytime work, and short-notice or temporary coverage costs more than a schedule planned weeks ahead. Post duties matter next. A guard who only observes an entrance prices differently from one who runs reception, keeps visitor logs and walks interior rounds between arrivals.
Property size and layout set how many posts or patrol stops a site needs. For events, crowd size, the number of entrances and the run time set the headcount. For cameras, the count and the watched hours set the monthly total. A store can book guards for only its heaviest theft hours, and the guide to shoplifting and theft prevention for retail stores shows how incident notes point to those hours.
How to compare security quotes
Compare quotes for the same hours and duties before comparing totals. Check the hourly rate, the exact hours covered each week, and how holiday and overtime hours are billed. Confirm what the guard does during the shift, how patrol visits are counted and what goes into the incident notes your contact receives.
When a bid looks far below the bands above, look for missing hours or duties rather than a better deal. When you are ready, the HALO quote form asks where you need security, the hours you want covered and your main concern, and HALO follows up with coverage options.
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A few useful answers
Quick answers
How much does a security guard cost per hour in the Bay Area?
As of 2026, an on-site guard across HALO’s service area usually runs $36 to $50 per guard-hour, and the most demanding San Francisco posts sit near $50. A check that needs only a few minutes on site often costs less as a patrol stop, billed at about $2 to $3 a minute with a five-minute minimum.
How much does an armed security guard cost per hour?
Most armed posts in HALO’s service area run $60 to $75 per guard-hour in 2026 pricing. Armed officers hold exposed-firearm permits, and a vehicle for the shift adds about $7 to $12 an hour.
What does mobile patrol cost with HALO?
Mobile patrol is billed at about $2 to $3 for each minute the officer is on the property, with a five-minute minimum per visit. Three 10-minute visits a night over a 30-night month come to roughly $1,800 to $2,700.
Is event security priced differently from a regular guard post?
Yes. Event personnel carry a separate hourly band, typically $49 to $66 per guard-hour, because shifts are short and built around one date.
Do guard rates change much between San Francisco and Morgan Hill?
Only a little. San Francisco’s labor costs are the highest in HALO’s region, yet its usual band runs about a dollar an hour above Morgan Hill’s. The hours, the duties at the post and how much notice the request carries change a quote far more.
What should a security quote include?
The hourly rate or per-minute patrol rate, the exact hours and days covered, holiday and overtime billing, the guard’s duties and how incident notes reach your contact.
How much does private security cost per month?
A post staffed 40 hours a week works out to about 173 hours a month, so 173 hours times $36 to $50 comes to $6,228 to $8,650 for unarmed coverage. A single 24-hour post runs about 730 hours a month, and 730 hours times $36 to $50 comes to $26,280 to $36,500.