Correctional Officers and Jailers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,332
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,128
15.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,051
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$52,460
Kept after tax
$44,332
Worth in national money
$50,051
State rank
33
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $52,460. That is 33 of 49 states, and about 10.99% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in North Dakota, this sits in the middle: 291 of 460 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $52,460 you keep $44,332, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,051 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For correctional officers and jailers, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $52,460, ranking 33 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 10.99%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Correctional officers and jailers ranks 291 of 460 occupations in North Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for correctional officers and jailers on $52,460 is $44,332. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,051 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $55,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Correctional Officers and Jailers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,870 |
| This salary | $52,460 |
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 North Dakota | $44,332 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,332 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,431 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $52,460 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,359 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Dakota earn less than $52,460. The published range is $47,580 up to $62,870, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $44,332, from $52,460, 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 291 of 460 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,051 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 291.
- Reported values are medians; for correctional officers and jailers in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,580 to $62,870. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $44,332 from $52,460. 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 291 of 460 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,051, worked from $52,460, 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 North Dakota address, on work sitting at 291 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $55,090, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,580 at the bottom tenth to $62,870 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $50,051 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 North Dakota's own levy, $44,332 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 North Dakota is $55,090. 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 ($47,580 to $62,870) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $50,051 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 $44,332 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.