How to Become a Probation Officer: Degree, Pay and Steps

Trevor Rupe, Contributor at Savo Media Group

Last updated October 14, 2026

How to become a probation officer starts with a bachelor’s degree: BLS lists one as the typical entry education, and criminal justice is the first field of degree it names. After the degree comes a government training program, a possible certification test and, for some, up to a year as a trainee. Probation officers (SOC 21-1092) earned a median of $66,270 a year in May 2025.

How to Become a Probation Officer, Step by Step

1. Earn a bachelor’s degree. BLS says the job typically needs one. Common fields of degree include criminal justice or a related security and protective service field, social science, or psychology, and requirements vary by jurisdiction.
2. Add experience in the field if you can. Although job requirements vary, volunteer or paid work experience in the criminal justice field may be helpful for some positions.
3. Meet the agency’s standards. Candidates may be required to pass competency exams, drug testing and a criminal background check. A valid driver’s license may be required, and some agencies require applicants to be at least 21 years old.
4. Complete the training program. Most probation officers must complete a training program sponsored by their state or local government or the federal government, after which they may have to pass a certification test.
5. Work as a trainee if the agency requires it. You may be required to work as a trainee for up to 1 year before being offered a permanent position.

Do You Need a Degree to Be a Probation Officer?

Usually, yes, if you want to become a probation officer. BLS’s education assignment for this job is a bachelor’s degree, and it adds that requirements vary by jurisdiction. Where a state or the federal courts have written the rule down, the bachelor’s degree is in it.

State rules. Florida, North Carolina and Texas each set the degree in statute or commission rule for their probation officers.

Federal rule. For the federal courts, “To qualify for appointment as a U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services officer, applicants must have at least an undergraduate college degree.” Officers must be appointed by their 37th birthday, because they’re subject to mandatory retirement at age 57.

Our system consists of 94 court districts. Current job openings are announced individually by each district.

U.S. Courts, probation and pretrial services careers

How to Become a Probation Officer With a Criminal Justice Degree

BLS names criminal justice first among the fields of degree for this job, ahead of social science and psychology. The degree gets you in the door, and experience adds to it: BLS says volunteer or paid work experience in the criminal justice field may be helpful for some positions.

A criminal justice degree also appears at the next step. BLS says advancement to supervisory positions is based primarily on experience and performance, and that a master’s degree in criminal justice, social work or psychology may be helpful for advancing. The master’s rankings compare those programs on cost and graduates.

What a Probation Officer Does All Day

Probation officers supervise people who have been placed on probation instead of sent to prison, checking that they’re not a danger to the community and helping with rehabilitation by visiting often. Parole officers do the same for people released from prison. Pretrial services officers investigate a defendant’s background to decide whether they can safely return to the community before trial. Correctional treatment specialists, also called case managers or correctional counselors, advise probationers and parolees and write the rehabilitation plans they follow.

• Interview probationers and parolees, and their friends and relatives, to assess progress.
• Evaluate clients to decide the best course of rehabilitation and connect them with resources such as job training.
• Test clients for drugs and, if necessary, offer substance abuse counseling.
• Complete prehearing investigations and testify in court or before parole boards about a client’s background and progress.
• Write reports and keep case files.

Caseloads depend on each client’s needs and risks, since higher-risk clients usually take more of an officer’s time, and they vary by agency. Most work full time, and the job may involve frequent travel for home and employment checks, property searches and court hearings. Some workers are on call around the clock and meet clients at nonstandard hours. Working in high-crime areas or in institutions can be stressful, and because of the hostile environments they may meet, some officers and specialists carry a firearm or pepper spray. State government employs 51% of the job and local government 46%.

Probation Officer Salary: What the Job Pays

Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists (SOC 21-1092) earned a median of $66,270 a year in May 2025, or $31.86 an hour, in BLS’s Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The survey counts the two jobs as one occupation, so every figure here covers both. The mean was $73,130, the middle half earned between $54,250 and $84,780, 10% earned less than $46,840 and 10% earned more than $107,790. BLS counted 89,390 workers in the survey.

Percentiles show where a worker falls in the range, not how long they’ve served, so the 10th percentile isn’t a starting salary. The handbook profile also breaks the May 2025 median down by employer: local government $70,260, state government $66,270 and healthcare and social assistance $45,830. Those are the handbook’s figures for some of the largest employers.

Probation Officer Pay by State

BLS reports pay for this job in 46 states and districts. California paid the highest median, $103,640, and Mississippi the lowest, $34,110. 21 of the 46 had a median above the national figure. The table holds the 25 highest-paying states and the list continues the order.

• North Carolina $62,220 $45,410 $75,180
• Kansas $61,890 $49,480 $76,110
• Ohio $61,120 $46,480 $79,640
• Alabama $61,050 $42,300 $84,270
• Arizona $60,910 $45,790 $80,380
• Georgia $60,270 $45,280 $71,570
• Indiana $60,170 $43,610 $81,160
• Idaho $59,780 $47,470 $77,210
• Montana $59,750 $48,390 $74,280
• Kentucky $59,610 $54,070 $69,000
• Virginia $58,820 $46,320 $77,010
• Tennessee $58,010 $45,610 $69,470
• South Carolina $56,780 $51,110 $84,710
• Wyoming $56,580 $48,010 $74,060
• West Virginia $53,120 $37,640 $73,190
• Texas $52,880 $46,020 $74,290
• Arkansas $51,180 $37,030 $63,750
• Florida $50,960 $38,350 $64,940
• Oklahoma $50,380 $38,310 $62,980
• Missouri $46,840 $42,960 $51,710
• Mississippi $34,110 $28,640 $50,730

Probation Officer Job Outlook Through 2035

BLS projects that overall employment of probation officers and correctional treatment specialists will grow 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 7,900 openings a year are projected for the group, on average, over the decade.

In BLS's projections table, probation officers and correctional treatment specialists have a row of their own: 93,700 jobs in 2025 and 96,500 projected for 2035, growth of 3 percent.

BLS says employment growth depends primarily on the amount of state and local government funding for corrections, especially the amount allocated to probation and parole systems.

Degree Routes Toward a Probation Career

The bachelor’s degree is the step that decides whether you can apply, so how to become a probation officer starts with the bachelor’s rankings. They compare programs on cost, graduate earnings and four other factors, and the online list is for readers who need to study around a job.

• Campus and Online Best Colleges for Criminal Justice 745 ranked bachelor’s programs, campus and online, priced at the in-state rate. California has the highest state median for probation officers, $103,640 (SOC 21-1092, May 2025).
• Online Bachelor’s Degrees Online Criminal Justice Degree 187 ranked online bachelor’s programs, priced for an online student from another state. Median pay for probation officers is $66,270 (SOC 21-1092, May 2025).
• Graduate Degrees Masters in Criminal Justice 231 ranked master’s programs, priced at the graduate rate a resident pays. BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry education for probation officers.

Questions About Becoming a Probation Officer

Sources for the Probation Officer Guide

• Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
• Pay for Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists (SOC 21-1092): BLS OEWS occupation profile, May 2025.
• Duties, education, training, advancement, employers, pay by employer and the 2025 to 2035 projection: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists, last modified August 27, 2026.
• Typical entry education: BLS Employment Projections, education and training assignments by occupation, 2025.
• Federal rule: U.S. Courts, probation and pretrial services careers. State rules: Florida, North Carolina and Texas, Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission employment requirements and the other citations in the table.
• Handbook and rules read on October 7, 2026.