Correctional guard vs reserve officer

The differences between correctional guards and reserve officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a reserve officer has an average salary of $51,866, which is higher than the $37,889 average annual salary of a correctional guard.

The top three skills for a correctional guard include facility policy, security checks and emergency situations. The most important skills for a reserve officer are patrol, law enforcement, and jrotc.

Correctional guard vs reserve officer overview

	Correctional Guard	Reserve Officer
Yearly salary	$37,889	$51,866
Hourly rate	$18.22	$24.94
Growth rate	-10%	-10%
Number of jobs	18,348	57,365
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	-	-

Correctional guard vs reserve officer salary

Correctional guards and reserve officers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Correctional Guard	Reserve Officer
Average salary	$37,889	$51,866
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $48,000	Between $36,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between correctional guard and reserve officer education

There are a few differences between a correctional guard and a reserve officer in terms of educational background:

	Correctional Guard	Reserve Officer
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	-

Correctional guard vs reserve officer demographics

Here are the differences between correctional guards' and reserve officers' demographics:

	Correctional Guard	Reserve Officer
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9%	Male, 71.9% Female, 28.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 19.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 2.0% White, 58.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 2.1% White, 57.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between correctional guard and reserve officer duties and responsibilities

Correctional guard example responsibilities.

Aid inmates in their rehabilitation by scheduling work assignments, counseling, and educational opportunities.
Issue weapons and ammunition for transportation officers.

Reserve officer example responsibilities.

Manage all construction projects to ensure all establish DOD security standards are incorporated.
Direct logistics management as a company commander of a combat engineering company.
Maintain organization of other members and platoon squad.
Serve warrants, summons, subpoenas, civil and other official papers.
Enter, review, modify, locate and remove entries make into NCIC.
Develop software tools, procedures and systems as required to provide support to medical logistics users.

Correctional guard vs reserve officer skills

Common correctional guard skills

Facility Policy, 29%
Security Checks, 21%
Emergency Situations, 21%
Clinical Treatment, 17%
CPR, 3%
Vital Signs, 2%

Common reserve officer skills

Patrol, 28%
Law Enforcement, 8%
Jrotc, 7%
Traffic Control, 6%
Public Safety, 6%
Emergency Calls, 4%

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Protective Service Industry
Correctional Guard
Correctional Guard vs Reserve Officer

Updated January 8, 2025

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