Correctional Officers and Jailers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,756
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$24,614
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,737
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$96,370
Kept after tax
$71,756
Worth in national money
$63,737
State rank
1
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $96,370, which ranks 1 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 63.51% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 146 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $96,370 the take-home is $71,756. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $63,737 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $92,410, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- California ranks 1 of 49 states publishing a median for correctional officers and jailers, at $96,370 — about 63.51% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 146 of 492 in California places correctional officers and jailers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $71,756 for correctional officers and jailers, from $96,370. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,737. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $92,410 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Correctional Officers and Jailers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $114,730 |
| This salary | $96,370 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $71,756 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,626 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,117 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $89,447 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,881 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of correctional officers and jailers in California earn under $96,370 and half over. The published range runs $63,380 at the tenth percentile to $114,730 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In California the take-home figure of $71,756, from $96,370, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 146 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,737 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 146.
- Figures are distribution medians for correctional officers and jailers in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $63,380 to $114,730; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $71,756 from $96,370. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 146 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,737, worked from $96,370, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular California address, on work sitting at 146 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $92,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $63,380 and the top tenth $114,730, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $63,737 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California's own levy, $71,756 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $92,410. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($63,380 to $114,730) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $63,737 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $71,756 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.