Clergy vs Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists: $61K vs $66K Median Pay

Clergy vs Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists: what changes?

Consider Clergy if you want to conduct religious worship and perform other spiritual functions associated with beliefs and practices of religious faith or denomination. 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 Clergy 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

Clergy

National median pay (2025): $60,810
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: Pray and promote spirituality.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 19,200

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Clergy 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

Clergy has the edge on annual openings

Clergy is at 19,200 annual openings, compared with 7,900 annual openings for Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists.

Typical preparation differs.

Clergy: 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 Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists: 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 Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

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

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists is at $66,270, compared with $60,810 for Clergy.

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists has the edge on projected growth

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists is at 3% projected growth, compared with 2.4% projected growth for Clergy.

50.4/ 100

Clergy

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.

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