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What is the cost for a home security system?

United States: homeowner survey

Households in the American Housing Survey that hired out the job of adding or replacing a security system reported a median of $800; the typical range (middle half of 660 American Housing Survey data points, the United States, 2021-2023) was $300 to $2,000.

When the household did the job of adding or replacing the security system itself: a median (1,056 American Housing Survey data points, the United States, 2021-2023) of $300.

How measured: hired-out finished jobs, survey-weighted, not adjusted for inflation; do-it-yourself jobs the same way. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey 2023, data read 17 October 2026.

These figures are estimates from U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey 2023, data years 2021-2023, read 17 October 2026, for the United States. They are not a quote, and they are not a promise of what any contractor on InstaBids will charge. Your price depends on your home, the materials and the contractor. Get written bids before you decide.

InstaBids is a written-bid marketplace for home jobs: you, or your AI assistant, describe it once; contractors bid in writing on that scope; you choose who gets your number.

Researched by the InstaBids editorial team. Last checked: 17 October 2026 Updated 2026-10-17

What do the home security system cost figures cover?

The figures above are the cost households reported for the job of adding or replacing a security system. The survey item reads "Added or replaced security system", so adding a system and replacing one are counted in the same range.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, AHS 2023 Value Labels Package, read 17 October 2026.

A smaller share of these jobs was hired out than of the other three jobs compared here: 37 percent of the security system jobs with a reported cost were hired out, against landscaping or sprinkler system jobs (50 percent), insulation jobs (52 percent) and roofing jobs (87 percent).

What is the average cost of a security system for a home?

This page shows a typical range and a median, worked out from the survey answers, rather than a single average: the national figures are at the top of this page, and the South Atlantic figures are below. South Atlantic is Census Division 5, and the label below lists its states by abbreviation.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census Regions and Divisions of the United States, read 16 October 2026.

South Atlantic Census division: homeowner survey

South Atlantic households that hired out the job of adding or replacing a security system reported a median of $800; the typical range (middle half of 149 American Housing Survey data points, South Atlantic Census division (DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL), 2021-2023) was $300 to $2,000.

How measured: hired-out finished jobs, survey-weighted, not adjusted for inflation. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey 2023, data read 17 October 2026.

These figures are estimates from U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey 2023, data years 2021-2023, read 17 October 2026, for South Atlantic Census division (DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL). They are not a quote, and they are not a promise of what any contractor on InstaBids will charge. Your price depends on your home, the materials and the contractor. Get written bids before you decide.

What do state rules and consumer and security guides say about a security system for a home?

In Florida, a wireless burglar alarm or smoke detector needs no permit to install, maintain, inspect, replace or service. Florida's streamlined permitting law covers hardwired low-voltage alarm projects, video cameras included, wherever a local agency requires a permit for them; in those places the contractor follows that law's permit label and notice steps, set out below.

Source: Florida Statutes, section 553.793 (streamlined low-voltage alarm system installation permitting), read 17 October 2026.

Where that Florida law applies, the contractor posts an unused permit label at the home before starting work and files a notice with the local agency within 14 days of finishing. No label is needed for later maintenance, inspection or service of a system already permitted this way. The local agency may arrange an inspection with the owner or customer, and the contractor must correct a project that fails it. The law does not cover installing or replacing a fire alarm that needs a plan review.

Source: Florida Statutes, section 553.793 (streamlined low-voltage alarm system installation permitting), read 17 October 2026.

Florida law defines an alarm system as any electrical or signaling device, or combination of them, used to signal or detect a burglary, fire, robbery or medical emergency. In Florida, a registered residential alarm system contractor's business is limited to burglar alarm systems in single-family homes, quadruplexes and mobile homes, and it may contract only in the jurisdiction its registration covers.

Source: Florida Statutes, section 489.505 (definitions), read 17 October 2026.

In California, the Department of Consumer Affairs says alarm companies providing home security systems must hold a licence from the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, defines an alarm company as a business that installs, maintains, alters, sells, monitors, services or responds to alarm systems, and advises checking that licence before doing business with one.

Source: California Department of Consumer Affairs, Consumer Guide to Alarm Companies, read 17 October 2026.

The California guide also tells homeowners to check with their city or county whether they need a permit to have an alarm system, and whether the alarm company needs a local business permit.

Source: California Department of Consumer Affairs, Consumer Guide to Alarm Companies, read 17 October 2026.

The California guide says alarm monitoring can include web-based tools that show a video feed from the home on a mobile device, and recommends checking whether the alarm company provides firmware, an encrypted network or a strong firewall, because the feed can be hacked if the site is not secured properly.

Source: California Department of Consumer Affairs, Consumer Guide to Alarm Companies, read 17 October 2026.

The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) counts Wi-Fi-enabled cameras as part of a home network and says default log-in passwords and usernames are not secure and should be changed. It also advises updating software regularly and turning off the router's remote management.

Source: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Home Network Security, read 17 October 2026.

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Sources for the figures on this page