Prison guard vs jail officer

The differences between prison guards and jail 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 $40,440 average annual salary of a jail officer.

The top three skills for a prison guard include security procedures, emergency situations and incident reports. The most important skills for a jail officer are booking, security checks, and security procedures.

Prison guard vs jail officer overview

	Prison Guard	Jail Officer
Yearly salary	$41,596	$40,440
Hourly rate	$20.00	$19.44
Growth rate	-10%	-10%
Number of jobs	16,205	57,236
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 47%	High School Diploma, 29%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	-	-

Prison guard vs jail officer salary

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

	Prison Guard	Jail Officer
Average salary	$41,596	$40,440
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $56,000	Between $29,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between prison guard and jail officer education

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

	Prison Guard	Jail Officer
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 47%	High School Diploma, 29%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	-

Prison guard vs jail officer demographics

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

	Prison Guard	Jail Officer
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 73.0% Female, 27.0%	Male, 64.8% Female, 35.2%
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, 17.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 2.0% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between prison guard and jail 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.

Jail officer example responsibilities.

Job description includes booking in and managing inmates in correctional facility.
Administer first aid and CPR whenever necessary.
Experience and certification in VCIN, and CPR.
Run and enter information into NCIC computer network as needed.
Patrol assign areas for evidence of unauthorize activities, infractions of rules, unsatisfactory attitudes or unsatisfactory adjustment of inmates.
Operate and monitor CCTV, fire suppression and intrusion alarms and systems.

Prison guard vs jail officer skills

Common prison guard skills

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

Common jail officer skills

Booking, 19%
Security Checks, 10%
Security Procedures, 9%
Emergency Situations, 9%
Direct Supervision, 8%
Master Control, 5%