What Jobs Can Inmates Do in Jail and Do They Get Paid?

Inmate jobs in jail and prison fall into two broad categories: facility maintenance work that keeps the institution running, and specialized positions that require more skill or trust.

Facility maintenance is where most inmates start. Kitchen work, cleaning common areas and bathrooms, landscaping, laundry, and general upkeep are the jobs that everyone rotates through. They are not glamorous but they provide structure, get inmates out of their cells, and can count toward good behavior records.

Specialized positions open up for inmates who have demonstrated reliability and earned some trust inside. These include working as a teacher's aide or peer educator in GED and vocational programs, working in the commissary or warehouse, serving as an orderly for counselors or administrative staff, and in some facilities, skilled trades work like plumbing, electrical, or painting.

On pay, inmates do receive compensation for their work, but the amounts are extremely modest. Federal inmates typically earn between $0.12 and $0.40 per hour depending on the job. State and county facilities pay even less in many cases, and some county jails pay nothing at all for certain assignments. The earnings go into the inmate's commissary account and can be used for phone time, hygiene items, or food. It is not a living wage by any measure, but it is something.

On the slavery comparison, the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly permits involuntary servitude as punishment for crime, which is the legal basis for prison labor programs. Whether work assignments are truly voluntary varies. In many facilities inmates are required to work and can face disciplinary consequences for refusing. Reform advocates have raised this issue for years.

On phones, most facilities have shared phones in common areas rather than phones in individual cells. The number of phones available and the hours they are accessible vary by facility and housing unit. Inmates typically have to wait their turn during designated phone hours, which is one of the reasons having an InmateAid local number set up is worthwhile. It does not change the wait, but it significantly reduces the cost of each call.