Prison guard vs correction officer

The differences between prison guards and correction officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a prison guard has an average salary of $41,596, which is higher than the $39,369 average annual salary of a correction officer.

The top three skills for a prison guard include security procedures, emergency situations and incident reports. The most important skills for a correction officer are public safety, correctional facility, and emergency situations.

Prison guard vs correction officer overview

	Prison Guard	Correction Officer
Yearly salary	$41,596	$39,369
Hourly rate	$20.00	$18.93
Growth rate	-10%	-10%
Number of jobs	16,205	103,383
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 47%	High School Diploma, 30%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	-	-

Prison guard vs correction officer salary

Prison guards and correction officers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Prison Guard	Correction Officer
Average salary	$41,596	$39,369
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $56,000	Between $28,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	-	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between prison guard and correction officer education

There are a few differences between a prison guard and a correction officer in terms of educational background:

	Prison Guard	Correction Officer
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 47%	High School Diploma, 30%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	-

Prison guard vs correction officer demographics

Here are the differences between prison guards' and correction officers' demographics:

	Prison Guard	Correction Officer
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 73.0% Female, 27.0%	Male, 62.5% Female, 37.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 15.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 2.0% White, 57.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 16.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 2.0% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between prison guard and correction officer duties and responsibilities

Prison guard example responsibilities.

Carry and operate various types of firearms as necessary and under authorization outside the facility.
Perform basic first aid procedures and cardiopulmonary resuscitation which involves kneeling and bending.

Correction officer example responsibilities.

Manage behavior modification and offender restoration rehabilitation.
Implement defensive tactics and physical restraints to maintain the safety and security of the general public.
Conduct NCIC background reports on all new inmates within the facility.
Collect felony DNA enter finger prints into live scan for NCIC.
finger prints and background information and placement in to the pod )
Feed, book-in inmates, control movement and supervise medical treatment.

Prison guard vs correction officer skills

Common prison guard skills

Security Procedures, 28%
Emergency Situations, 18%
Incident Reports, 9%
Security Checks, 9%
Correctional Facility, 7%
CPR, 6%

Common correction officer skills

Public Safety, 27%
Correctional Facility, 11%
Emergency Situations, 9%
Security Checks, 5%
Incident Reports, 5%
CPR, 5%

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Protective Service Industry
Prison Guard
Prison Guard vs Correction Officer

Updated January 8, 2025

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