Correctional Officers and Jailers in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,590
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$8,930
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,907
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$47,520
Kept after tax
$38,590
Worth in national money
$39,907
State rank
42
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Georgia. The middle earner gets $47,520. That is 42 of 49 states, and about 19.38% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 320 among 492 occupations Georgia publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,520 you keep $38,590 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,907 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $47,980, since top earners drag the number up.
- For correctional officers and jailers, Georgia sits in the lower band at $47,520, ranking 42 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 19.38%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 320 of 492 in Georgia 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 in Georgia is $38,590 after the full tax stack, from $47,520. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,907 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $47,980 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Correctional Officers and Jailers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,430 |
| This salary | $47,520 |
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 Georgia | $38,590 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,362 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,629 |
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 | $45,314 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,970 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,520 as a midpoint for Georgia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,820 and the ninetieth is $58,430 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Georgia's $38,590, worked from $47,520. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 320 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Georgia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $39,907, the adjusted value of that $47,520 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 320 of 492 in the state.
- The Georgia median of $47,520 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,820 to $58,430. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Georgia take-home of $38,590, on $47,520 for work ranking 320 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 320 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Georgia, so $39,907 — the adjusted value of that $47,520 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 320 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,820 at the tenth percentile, $58,430 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Georgia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $39,907 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Georgia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,590 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,820 to $58,430) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Georgia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $39,907 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,590 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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.