Compared with the local labor market
Correctional Officer III pay vs. Texas
Across all employers in Texas, the median wage for Correctional Officers and Jailers — about 44,700 people — is $52,670. Texas Department of Criminal Justice pays a median base salary of $59,438 for this role, 13% above that figure — about the 85th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Texas Department of Criminal Justice sits in the local pay range
$44,870
$48,880
$52,670
$57,330
$60,550
Texas Department of Criminal Justice median · $59,438
The bar is the range of annual wages for Correctional Officers and Jailers across every employer in Texas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Texas Department of Criminal Justice’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. Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s median base salary is in line withthat national figure, about the 51st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$42,760
$48,640
$58,940
$75,850
$93,220
Texas Department of Criminal Justice median · $59,438
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 Texas range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 21,611 of 21,615 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 Texas Department of Criminal Justice is $59,438, 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.