Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Parking Enforcement Workers: $59K vs $47K Median Pay

Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Parking Enforcement Workers: what changes?

Consider Correctional Officers and Jailers if you want to guard inmates in penal or rehabilitative institutions in accordance with established regulations and procedures. Consider Parking Enforcement Workers if you would rather patrol assigned area, such as public parking lot or city streets to issue tickets to overtime parking violators and illegally parked vehicles. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Correctional Officers and Jailers and Parking Enforcement Workers. 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

Correctional Officers and Jailers

National median pay (2025): $58,940
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; 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: Conduct head counts to ensure that each prisoner is present.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 28,400

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 7.4% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Correctional Officers and Jailers brief

Parking Enforcement Workers

National median pay (2025): $46,730
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less 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: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Enter and retrieve information pertaining to vehicle registration, identification, and status, using hand-held computers.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 800

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 1.1% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Parking Enforcement Workers brief

How the national numbers differ

Correctional Officers and Jailers has the edge on annual openings

Correctional Officers and Jailers is at 28,400 annual openings, compared with 800 annual openings for Parking Enforcement Workers.

Correctional Officers and Jailers has the edge on median pay

Correctional Officers and Jailers is at $58,940, compared with $46,730 for Parking Enforcement Workers.

Parking Enforcement Workers has the edge on projected growth

Parking Enforcement Workers is at -1.1% projected growth, compared with -7.4% projected growth for Correctional Officers and Jailers.

52.6/ 100

Correctional Officers and Jailers

29/ 100

Parking Enforcement Workers

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

Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Parking Enforcement Workers

Dimension	Correctional Officers and Jailers	Parking Enforcement Workers
Median pay (2025)	$58,940	$46,730
Pay percentile	45.9 percentile	22.5 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-7.4%	-1.1%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	28,400	800
2025 employment	397,800	9,400
How you qualify	High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
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	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	One month or less 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 Correctional Officers and Jailers brief Read Parking Enforcement Workers brief

Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Parking Enforcement Workers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Correctional Officers and Jailers

Parking Enforcement Workers

How the national numbers differ

Correctional Officers and Jailers has the edge on annual openings

Correctional Officers and Jailers has the edge on median pay

Parking Enforcement Workers has the edge on projected growth

Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Parking Enforcement Workers

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