Child, Family, and School Social Workers vs Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists: $60K vs $66K Median Pay

Child, Family, and School Social Workers vs Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists: what changes?

Consider Child, Family, and School Social Workers if you want to provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children. Consider Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists if you would rather provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Child, Family, and School Social Workers and Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

National median pay (2025): $59,550
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 33,900

Know before you choose

Conflict, distress, or difficult interactions are recurring parts of the work, not rare exceptions.

See the full Child, Family, and School Social Workers brief

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

National median pay (2025): $66,270
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 7,900

Know before you choose

Conflict, distress, or difficult interactions are recurring parts of the work, not rare exceptions.

See the full Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists brief

How the national numbers differ

Child, Family, and School Social Workers has the edge on annual openings

Child, Family, and School Social Workers is at 33,900 annual openings, compared with 7,900 annual openings for Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists.

Child, Family, and School Social Workers has the edge on projected growth

Child, Family, and School Social Workers is at 4.4% projected growth, compared with 3% projected growth for Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists.

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists has the edge on median pay

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists is at $66,270, compared with $59,550 for Child, Family, and School Social Workers.

59.9/ 100

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

52.8/ 100

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Child, Family, and School Social Workers vs Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

Dimension	Child, Family, and School Social Workers	Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
Median pay (2025)	$59,550	$66,270
Pay percentile	47.1 percentile	58.2 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	4.4%	3%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	33,900	7,900
2025 employment	405,100	93,700
How you qualify	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 4	Job Zone 4
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Child, Family, and School Social Workers brief Read Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists brief

Child, Family, and School Social Workers vs Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

How the national numbers differ

Child, Family, and School Social Workers has the edge on annual openings

Child, Family, and School Social Workers has the edge on projected growth

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists has the edge on median pay

Child, Family, and School Social Workers vs Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

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