The 10 States With The Highest Probation Officer Salaries For 2023

Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do probation officers get paid where I live?

And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for probation officers by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.

The state with the best salary for probation officers after this adjustment? That would be Probation Officers And Correctional Treatment Specialists.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for probation officer salaries:

To better understand how probation officer salaries change across America, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for probation officers by state.

Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living in a state — because your salary goes further in North Carolina than it does in California.

Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.

How we determined probation officer pay by state

As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for probation officers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics.’

To make the comparison of salaries apples to apples across states, we also took into account the cost of living in each state.

We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a state by the cost of living relative to average. As an example, the cost of living index in California is 135.9 and the average pay is $94650, so our index value would be:

$94,650 * (100 / 135.9) = $69,646

We then ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for probation officers.

Here’s a look at the full ranking for all states.

Detailed List Of Probation Officer Salaries By State

Rank	State	Adjusted Salary	Average Wage	Cost Of Living
1	Iowa	$79,890	$72,700	91.0
2	Michigan	$72,101	$64,170	89.0
3	Minnesota	$72,053	$72,630	100.8
4	Connecticut	$70,446	$89,960	127.7
5	California	$69,646	$94,650	135.9
6	Illinois	$68,837	$65,120	94.6
7	Washington	$66,996	$70,480	105.2
8	North Dakota	$65,020	$64,630	99.4
9	Massachusetts	$62,953	$83,980	133.4
10	Nevada	$61,771	$63,810	103.3
11	New Jersey	$61,558	$75,040	121.9
12	Colorado	$61,541	$63,880	103.8
13	Pennsylvania	$59,901	$60,740	101.4
14	Ohio	$59,573	$55,880	93.8
15	New York	$58,984	$77,270	131.0
16	Indiana	$58,972	$52,780	89.5
17	Utah	$58,817	$54,700	93.0
18	Oregon	$58,252	$67,340	115.6
19	Arizona	$57,265	$56,120	98.0
20	Louisiana	$57,035	$54,070	94.8
21	Wyoming	$56,230	$51,620	91.8
22	Vermont	$56,127	$67,970	121.1
23	New Hampshire	$56,076	$65,610	117.0
24	Alaska	$56,048	$73,480	131.1
25	Nebraska	$55,524	$50,860	91.6
26	Texas	$55,226	$50,090	90.7
27	Alabama	$54,901	$50,070	91.2
28	Delaware	$52,455	$53,190	101.4
29	Wisconsin	$52,417	$50,740	96.8
30	Idaho	$51,226	$47,180	92.1
31	Kansas	$50,622	$45,510	89.9
32	New Mexico	$50,207	$48,450	96.5
33	Maryland	$50,047	$62,810	125.5
34	West Virginia	$49,935	$46,640	93.4
35	North Carolina	$49,435	$46,420	93.9
36	Maine	$48,745	$54,010	110.8
37	Georgia	$48,446	$44,280	91.4
38	Oklahoma	$48,172	$42,970	89.2
39	South Dakota	$48,042	$49,820	103.7
40	Tennessee	$47,863	$42,790	89.4
41	Montana	$47,718	$48,100	100.8
42	Arkansas	$47,680	$41,530	87.1
43	Virginia	$47,172	$47,550	100.8
44	Kentucky	$45,248	$40,950	90.5
45	South Carolina	$44,778	$44,420	99.2
46	Mississippi	$44,190	$37,960	85.9
47	Missouri	$43,329	$39,170	90.4
48	Florida	$43,123	$42,390	98.3
49	Hawaii	$38,749	$65,060	167.9

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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