Daniel Slotta
Research expert covering Greater China
Security services industry in the U.S. - statistics & facts
The security services industry consists of companies who provide private security guards and patrol vehicles, as well as additional ancillary services such as alarm systems, cyber security, background screening, investigation, risk analysis, and security consultancy services. As a significant portion of the U.S. population have consistently valued safety and security as one of the three most import aspects in life, the U.S. security services industry seems as relevant as ever.
With issues such as political instability and wealth inequality becoming more of a feature in U.S. society, the likelihood for the continuing and increasing use of private and/or outsourced security services remains high. This has been backed by the increasing market size of the industry and the profitability and employment numbers of the top security groups and companies.
Growing market size means more security guards
Since 2012, the market size of security services in the United States increased by roughly 7.6 billion U.S. dollars. This made a total market size of almost 47.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. The number of security guards working in the outsourced contract industry in the United States alone reached approximately 870,000 in the same year. This has provided an example of the sheer size and expansion of the security market, with further evidence as the fastest-growing private security company in the United States in 2023 in MOXFIVE increased its revenue by over 9,600 percent.Major players worth billions in revenue
As demonstrated by the revenue of the leading contract security companies in the United States, these private companies have consistently generated billions of U.S. dollars in turnover, with AlliedUniversal leading the pack by some distance. Following the acquisition of G4S in April 2021, the revenue of AlliedUniversal worldwide increased by over 10 billion U.S. dollars. The revenue of Securitas AB worldwide, another leader in the U.S. security services industry, has also consistently been in the billions of U.S. dollars. The Sweden-headquartered group have specialized in more than just security guarding - including investigation, monitoring, and patrolling.Increasing importance of cyber security
A clear growing market within the security industry has been in cyber security. The spending on cyber security worldwide reached over 79 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, a sharp increase when compared to the previous year. Since the COVID-19 pandemic where working from home became the norm for many, organizations have encountered changes in cyber attacks, and this has meant an increase in online threats to security. These attacks have proven to be expensive for businesses, with the average cost of a cyber attack in United States reported to be 20,000 U.S. dollars.With issues such as political instability and wealth inequality becoming more of a feature in U.S. society, the likelihood for the continuing and increasing use of private and/or outsourced security services remains high. This has been backed by the increasing market size of the industry and the profitability and employment numbers of the top security groups and companies.
