Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

Median salary

$66,270

Average salary

$73,130

Employment

89,390

Projected growth

2.6% growth

Annual openings

7,900

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

What Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists Do

Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole. Make recommendations for actions involving formulation of rehabilitation plan and treatment of offender, including conditional release and education and employment stipulations.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training
Self-employed: Not available

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 4 of 5

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience: A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
Education: Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Law and Governmentimportance 4.4/5
Public Safety and Securityimportance 4.3/5
English Languageimportance 4.1/5
Psychologyimportance 4.1/5
Therapy and Counselingimportance 4.0/5
Sociology and Anthropologyimportance 3.6/5
Administrativeimportance 3.4/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.2/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Contact With Others5.0/5
Telephone Conversations4.8/5
E-Mail4.8/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.7/5
Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.7/5
Conflict Situations4.5/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Social and Human Service Assistants98% skill match
Private Detectives and Investigators98% skill match
Emergency Medicine Physicians98% skill match
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers98% skill match
Child, Family, and School Social Workers97% skill match
Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks97% skill match
Self-Enrichment Teachers97% skill match
Psychiatric Technicians97% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Social Perceptivenessimportance 4.0/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.8/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.6/5
Time Managementimportance 3.4/5
Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
Persuasionimportance 3.1/5
Negotiationimportance 3.1/5
Instructingimportance 3.0/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Integrity
Dependability
Self-Control
Stress Tolerance
Social Orientation
Attention to Detail
Empathy

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

SocialHigh
ConventionalMedium
EnterprisingMedium
InvestigativeMedium
RealisticLow
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where probation officers and correctional treatment specialists make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).