Compared with the local labor market
Correction Officer IV pay vs. Massachusetts
Across all employers in Massachusetts, the median wage for Correctional Officers and Jailers — about 6,360 people — is $86,310. Sheriff Department Essex (Sde) pays a median base salary of $69,777 for this role, 19% below that figure — about the 22nd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Sheriff Department Essex (Sde) sits in the local pay range
$63,520
$71,280
$86,310
$91,980
$101,620
Sheriff Department Essex (Sde) median · $69,777
The bar is the range of annual wages for Correctional Officers and Jailers across every employer in Massachusetts, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Sheriff Department Essex (Sde)’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Correctional Officers and Jailers — about 380,500 people — is $58,940. Sheriff Department Essex (Sde)’s median base salary is 18% above that national figure, about the 66th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$42,760
$48,640
$58,940
$75,850
$93,220
Sheriff Department Essex (Sde) median · $69,777
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Massachusetts range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 3 of 4 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Sheriff Department Essex (Sde) is $90,491, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Correction Officer beyond Massachusetts
This role is reported in 2 jurisdictions. In Massachusetts, the median of $122,953 ranks #2 of 2. See Correction Officer across all of Massachusetts →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Correction Officerroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.