Compared with the local labor market
Security Officer pay vs. New Jersey
Across all employers in New Jersey, the median wage for Security Guards — about 41,540 people — is $38,880. Corrections pays a median base salary of $56,616 for this role, 46% above that figure — about the 85th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Corrections sits in the local pay range
$32,230
$34,770
$38,880
$48,120
$60,420
Corrections median · $56,616
The bar is the range of annual wages for Security Guards across every employer in New Jersey, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Corrections’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Security Guards — about 1,283,470 people — is $38,020. Corrections’s median base salary is 49% above that national figure, about the 87th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$30,210
$35,210
$38,020
$46,200
$58,840
Corrections median · $56,616
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 New Jersey range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Corrections is $58,693, 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 departments
This role across New Jersey
Security Officer is held in 4 New Jersey departments. In Corrections, the median of $58,693 ranks #3 of 4.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Security Officer role in other New Jerseydepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
Security Officer beyond New Jersey
This role is reported in 16 jurisdictions. In New Jersey, the median of $59,390 ranks #5 of 16. See Security Officer across all of New Jersey →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Security Officer roles 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.