Correctional officers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, correctional officers rate their career happiness 2.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 4% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy correctional officers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Ambulance dispatcher | 2.9 | $47k |
| Probation officer | 2.9 | $60k |
| Customs inspector | 2.9 | $84k |
| Security guard | 2.6 | $31k |
| Exterminator | 2.5 | $38k |
| Correctional officer | 2.4 | $48k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are correctional officers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do correctional officers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as correctional officers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are correctional officer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are correctional officers making the best use of their abilities?
Are correctional officers happy with their salary?
Correctional officers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Correctional officers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked correctional officers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
626 correctional officers
14% of correctional officers rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of correctional officers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of correctional officers rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of correctional officers rated their compensation 2 stars
20% of correctional officers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do correctional officers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, correctional officers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. The majority of correctional officers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked correctional officers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
628 correctional officers
11% of correctional officers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
15% of correctional officers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of correctional officers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
22% of correctional officers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
34% of correctional officers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as correctional officers?
Correctional officers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of correctional officers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked correctional officers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
660 correctional officers
28% of correctional officers rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of correctional officers rated their career fit 4 stars
20% of correctional officers rated their career fit 3 stars
14% of correctional officers rated their career fit 2 stars
9% of correctional officers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a correctional officer’s work environment?
As a whole, correctional officers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.9/5. Some correctional officers are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked correctional officers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
658 correctional officers
16% of correctional officers rated their work environment 5 stars
19% of correctional officers rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of correctional officers rated their work environment 3 stars
23% of correctional officers rated their work environment 2 stars
20% of correctional officers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are correctional officers making the best use of their abilities?
Former correctional officers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.6/5. Correctional officers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked correctional officers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
654 correctional officers
13% of correctional officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
15% of correctional officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
22% of correctional officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
22% of correctional officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
28% of correctional officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars