Bailiffs
US occupation · SOC 33-3011
Job titles people report: Bailiff, Court Bailiff, Court Constable, Court Deputy, Court Officer, Court Security Officer, Deputy Bailiff, Deputy Court Services Sheriff, Security Officer
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $56,600
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $43,720 – $74,630
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 17,310
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- -1.9%
- Shrinking (below 0%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 1,600
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Maintain order in courts of law.
Main tasks
- Screen persons entering courthouse using magnetometers, x-ray machines, and other devices to collect and retain unauthorized firearms and other contraband.
- Escort prisoners to and from courthouse and maintain custody of prisoners during court proceedings.
- Maintain order in courtroom during trial and guard jury from outside contact.
- Provide security by patrolling interior and exterior of courthouse and escorting judges and other court employees.
- Guard lodging of sequestered jury.
- Enforce courtroom rules of behavior and warn persons not to smoke or disturb court procedure.
- Arrest persons in court when arrest warrants have been issued.
- Report need for police or medical assistance to sheriff's office.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- Medium preparation
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Criminal Justice
- Criminal Justice/Police Science
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Criminal Justice at the Major step.
Where many students take criminal justice
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 6% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- CUNY John Jay College of Criminal JusticeNew York, NY · 46% of degrees · 11,590 undergraduates
- Sam Houston State UniversityHuntsville, TX · 20% of degrees · 17,743 undergraduates
- Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA · 6% of degrees · 50,012 undergraduates
- University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · 6% of degrees · 49,664 undergraduates
- The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyEdinburg, TX · 9% of degrees · 28,666 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
$76,210 median · +3.5% projected
- Correctional Officers and Jailers
$58,940 median · -7.4% projected
- First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
$106,040 median · +3.3% projected
- Detectives and Criminal Investigators
$93,790 median · +0.2% projected
- First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers
$77,970 median · -2.5% projected
- Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
$66,270 median · +3% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 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. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk