Correctional officers in California are paid $78,232 per year on average. The national average is $50,758 per year adjusted for cost of living. This is a large discrepancy between California salaries and a fair market wage. With 36,000 correctional officers, an appropriate adjustment of salaries could save nearly a billion dollars, even before considering benefits (which are more generous in California). Everyone wants fair pay for correctional officers, the question is should we be paying far more than everywhere else, particularly when the state is facing financial problems? The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is exceptionally powerful. It gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to elected officials during the 2010 election cycle alone and far more relating to specific prison policies over the last few decades.