Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Security Guards: $59K vs $38K Median Pay

Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Security Guards: 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 Security Guards if you would rather guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. 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 Security Guards. 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

Security Guards

National median pay (2025): $38,020
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: Lock doors and gates of entrances and exits to secure buildings.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 156,000

Know before you choose

BLS projects essentially flat employment (0.9%) through 2035. Annual openings mostly reflect replacement, not a rapidly expanding field.

See the full Security Guards brief

How the national numbers differ

Correctional Officers and Jailers has the edge on median pay

Correctional Officers and Jailers is at $58,940, compared with $38,020 for Security Guards.

Security Guards has the edge on projected growth

Security Guards is at 0.9% projected growth, compared with -7.4% projected growth for Correctional Officers and Jailers.

Security Guards has the edge on annual openings

Security Guards is at 156,000 annual openings, compared with 28,400 annual openings for Correctional Officers and Jailers.

52.6/ 100

Correctional Officers and Jailers

51.8/ 100

Security Guards

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 Security Guards

Dimension	Correctional Officers and Jailers	Security Guards
Median pay (2025)	$58,940	$38,020
Pay percentile	45.9 percentile	8.3 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-7.4%	0.9%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	28,400	156,000
2025 employment	397,800	1,294,300
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 Security Guards brief

Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Security Guards: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Correctional Officers and Jailers

Security Guards

How the national numbers differ

Correctional Officers and Jailers has the edge on median pay

Security Guards has the edge on projected growth

Security Guards has the edge on annual openings

Correctional Officers and Jailers vs Security Guards

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