Correctional Officers and Jailers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,730
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$14,730
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,625
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$79,460
Kept after tax
$64,730
Worth in national money
$59,625
State rank
5
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays this job a middle wage of $79,460, ranking 5 of 49 states and sitting about 34.82% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 197.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $79,460, tax leaves $64,730 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $59,625 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $78,150.
- Washington's median for correctional officers and jailers is $79,460, about 34.82% above the national figure and 5 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, correctional officers and jailers sits at 197 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $64,730 remains from the Washington median of $79,460 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $59,625 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $78,150 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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 | $64,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,430 |
| This salary | $79,460 |
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 Washington | $64,730 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,730 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,987 |
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 | $79,460 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,651 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 Washington earn under $79,460 and half over. The published range runs $64,460 at the tenth percentile to $95,430 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $64,730, worked from $79,460. 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 197 of 493.
- Two cautions on $59,625, the adjusted value of that $79,460 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 197 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for correctional officers and jailers in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $64,460 to $95,430; 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.
- The Washington take-home of $64,730, on $79,460 for work ranking 197 of 493 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 197 of 493 in the state.
- This $59,625 adjusted figure, worked from $79,460, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 197 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 197 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $64,460 at the tenth percentile, $95,430 at the ninetieth.
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 $59,625 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $64,730 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($64,460 to $95,430) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $59,625 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $64,730 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.