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Prison guard vs reserve officer

The differences between prison 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 $41,596 average annual salary of a prison guard.

The top three skills for a prison guard include security procedures, emergency situations and incident reports. The most important skills for a reserve officer are patrol, law enforcement, and jrotc.

Prison guard vs reserve officer overview

Prison GuardReserve Officer
Yearly salary$41,596$51,866
Hourly rate$20.00$24.94
Growth rate-10%-10%
Number of jobs16,20557,365
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 47%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4040
Years of experience--

Prison guard vs reserve officer salary

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

Prison GuardReserve Officer
Average salary$41,596$51,866
Salary rangeBetween $30,000 And $56,000Between $36,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between prison guard and reserve officer education

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

Prison GuardReserve Officer
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 47%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorCriminal JusticeCriminal Justice
Most common college--

Prison guard vs reserve officer demographics

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

Prison GuardReserve Officer
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 73.0% Female, 27.0%Male, 71.9% Female, 28.1%
Race ratioBlack 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, 15.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 2.1% White, 57.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between prison guard and reserve 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.

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.
  • Show more

Prison guard vs reserve officer skills

Common prison guard skills
  • Security Procedures, 28%
  • Emergency Situations, 18%
  • Incident Reports, 9%
  • Security Checks, 9%
  • Correctional Facility, 7%
  • CPR, 6%
Common reserve officer skills
  • Patrol, 28%
  • Law Enforcement, 8%
  • Jrotc, 7%
  • Traffic Control, 6%
  • Public Safety, 6%
  • Emergency Calls, 4%

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