How To Become A Jailer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a jailer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a jailer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.49 an hour? That's $40,540 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -10% and produce -42,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreJailerUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,540

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate -10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.95%

Asian 2.03%

Black or African American 15.73%

Hispanic or Latino 19.50%

Unknown 5.27%

White 56.52%

Gender

female 42.02%

male 57.98%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a jailer

Explore jailer education requirements

Most common jailer degrees

High School Diploma

40.2 %

Associate

22.8 %

Bachelor's

19.7 %

Start to develop specific jailer skills

Skills	Percentages
Transport Inmates	37.85%
Booking	19.45%
CPR	5.25%
Security Checks	2.54%
Emergency First Aid	2.53%

Complete relevant jailer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New jailers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a jailer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real jailer resumes.

Research jailer duties and responsibilities

Train on the air pack and CPR
Train in CPR and first responder techniques.
Monitor jail through CCTV and monitor dispatch.
Book and fingerprint inmates, classifying and running NCIC and TCIC warrant checks, and listing inventory and inmate property.

Prepare your jailer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your jailer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a jailer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Jailer Resume templates

Build a professional Jailer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Jailer resume.

Apply for jailer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a jailer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do jailers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Jailer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2022

Pros

Accountability

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2022

Cons

Dirty officers, mistreatment of I/M's, lack of help from higher up management, being required to work days off because we can't keep staff.

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2021