How to Become a

Parking Enforcement

The complete career guide to be a Parking Enforcement: salary, job growth, employers, best schools, and education you may need to get started.

Why We Love It

  • $38,280
    Potential Avg. Salary
  • -21.3%
    Job Growth Rate
  • Dependable Daily Workload
    Career Attribute
  • Don't Take Work Home
    Career Attribute

A parking enforcement officer ensures that drivers park their vehicles in accordance with parking regulations, ordinances and standards in the area. They are also responsible for checking parking violations and giving citations where applicable.

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What is a Parking Enforcement?

Duties

Here are some of the key functions of a parking enforcement officer:

  • Make sure that all drivers adhere to the rules in place utilizing assigned supplies such as hand-held computers, street cones, citation books and other temporary signage.
  • Track and arrange for illegally parked vehicles to be towed, with coordination with tow-truck drivers.
  • Report to the Parking Enforcement Supervisor, parking dispatcher, and Municipal Courts, using a two-way radio system
  • Issue warnings and resolve written or computerized citations for drivers who fail to observe the rules and solve any other conflicts.
  • Attach boot on vehicles when necessary, in case the vehicle owner has pending parking payments; monitor the drivers to make sure they pay them before driving away.

Growth of the job

The demand for parking enforcement officers is expected to go up, with 570 new jobs filled by 2018. The overall job outlook for such job roles has remained unchanged since 2004. There will be consistent need for parking enforcement professionals due to the frequency of overtime parking violators and illegally parked vehicles.

A day in the job of a parking enforcement officer

Day to day responsibilities as a parking enforcement officer, mainly involve carrying out patrols an assigned area (i.e. public parking spaces and city streets) by vehicle or on foot to ensure public compliance with existing parking ordinances. In some cases, a parking enforcement officer may have to assist police officers at accident scenes and with other police matters ranging from a missing person to other criminal issues.

While executing their daily responsibilities, a parking enforcement officer has to interact with a wide range of private and professional citizens during their job, whether it is pedestrians complaining about parking violations or vehicle owners asking for advice on how best to park in an area. It is up to the officer to provide timely, courteous responses to the public, and resolve escalated complaints concerning parking enforcement.

In this role, a parking enforcement officer is in charge of maintaining appropriate records of labour materials and inventories. He or she has to place orders for parking enforcement equipment as needed, while reconciling small dollar purchases.

Working schedule and typical working hours

A parking enforcement officer works forty hours in a week. They work from Monday to Friday, although weekends may also be involved in some cases. Most of the duties of a parking enforcement officer are done during the day. Parking enforcement officers routinely work both inside and outdoors in all weather conditions.

These professionals normally report to their work on a daily basis and they may be required to work extra hours in case of bulk work. This position may be assigned to any shift or combination of shifts as is deemed necessary in all kinds of inclement weather.

Typical employer

As a parking enforcement officer, one can work in contexts such as corporate offices, school and college campuses, municipal governments, supermarkets, wholesalers and retail shops among others. Some major recruiters are Brown University, Virginia Tech, Los Angeles County Department of Human Resources, Memorial Hermann, Serco Inc. and so on.

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How To Become a Parking Enforcement

The qualifications required for attaining success as a parking enforcement officer differs from one employer to another. To apply for jobs in this sector, one has to be at least 18 years of age and possess a high school diploma, GED or equivalent. Efficient job performance is possible with superior communication skills in the English language to be able to interpret and explain policies, procedures and laws.

Aspiring candidates can find good employment with top notch skills in local parking and with the ability to effectively drive within the city. Having a valid driver’s license is essential, since the job requires one to often drive over to different parts of their assigned patrol area.

Experienced parking enforcement officers with previous jobs as a supervisor or lead worker is desirable are more preferred by employers than those who are still rookies. Knowledge of conflict resolution techniques, reading comprehension and math skills are helpful for keeping accurate logs of traffic violations and contested citations on a regular basis. Moreover, these professionals should be physically fit in order to be able to undertake their duties without facing major challenges.


Parking Enforcement Salary Data

We’ve provided you the following to learn more about this career. The salary and growth data on this page comes from recently published Bureau of Labor Statistics data while the recommendations and editorial content are based on our research.

National Anual Salary

Low Range

$27,570

Average

$38,280

High Range

$58,060

National Hourly Wage

Low Range

$13/hr

Average

$18/hr

High Range

$28/hr

How do Parking Enforcement salaries stack up to other jobs across the country? Based on the latest jobs data nationwide, Parking Enforcement's can make an average annual salary of $38,280, or $18 per hour. This makes it an Above Average Salary. On the lower end, they can make $27,570 or $13 per hour, perhaps when just starting out or based on the state you live in.

Salary Rankings And Facts

  • #561 Nationally for All Careers


Highest Education Among Parking Enforcements

  • 0.3%   Doctorate
  • 3.4%   Masters
  • 27.3%   Bachelors
  • 10.3%   Associates
  • 30.1%   College
  • 25.3%   High School
  • 3.4%   Less than High School

Job Growth Projections and Forecast

2014 Total Jobs

9,400

2024 Est. Jobs

7,400

Job Growth Rate

-21.3%

Est. New Jobs

-2,000

How does Parking Enforcement job growth stack up to other jobs across the country? By 2024, there will be a change of -2,000 jobs for a total of 7,400 people employed in the career nationwide. This is a -21.3% change in growth over the next ten years, giving the career a growth rate nationwide of Below Average.

Growth Rankings And Facts

  • #793 Nationally for All Careers


What Companies Employ The Most Parking Enforcements

Industry Current Jobs New Jobs Needed % Increase
Local government, excluding education and hospitals 7,400 -1,500 -2%
Colleges, universities, and professional schools; state 1,100 -200 0%
State government, excluding education and hospitals 300 -100 0%

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