---
title: "Detective and Criminal Investigator"
description: "Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/detective-and-criminal-investigator"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Detective and Criminal Investigator

**Category:** Protective Service · **SOC code:** 33-3021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 33-3021.00

Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes.

Also advertised as: Crime Scene Investigator (CSI); Criminal Investigator; Detective; Fugitive Detective; Fugitive Investigator; Investigator; Narcotics Detective; Narcotics Investigator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $93,790 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $45.09/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $55,390 to $160,540, with the middle half between $69,330 and $120,520
- **Total US employment:** 114,430
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -0.7% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 7,800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 48/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 114,430 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $55,390 |
| 25th | $69,330 |
| 50th (median) | $93,790 |
| 75th | $120,520 |
| 90th | $160,540 |
| Mean (average) | $99,430 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $160,760 | $146,277 | 2,980 |
| MD | $126,730 | $120,742 | 1,010 |
| CA | $124,840 | $112,753 | 12,610 |
| DE | $122,050 | $122,285 | 140 |
| NJ | $116,300 | $106,888 | 3,080 |
| WA | $115,790 | $108,202 | 1,850 |
| AK | $114,940 | $112,291 | 140 |
| HI | $113,940 | $103,628 | 440 |
| VA | $112,760 | $111,529 | 3,180 |
| MA | $110,150 | $104,154 | 1,300 |
| OR | $107,450 | $103,956 | 520 |
| VT | $106,330 | $108,547 | 190 |
| CO | $105,480 | $102,356 | 1,930 |
| AZ | $102,340 | $101,652 | 5,250 |
| NY | $101,240 | $93,809 | 9,600 |

37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/detective-and-criminal-investigator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/detective-and-criminal-investigator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 117,900 in the 2024–2034 base year to 117,100 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 800 jobs, or -0.7%. Declining: -0.7% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 7,800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** Less than 5 years.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 32.5% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 20.0% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 19.7% |
| Some College Courses | 17.9% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 10.0% |

## What the work involves

- Record progress of investigation, maintain informational files on suspects, and submit reports to commanding officer or magistrate to authorize warrants.
- Collaborate with other offices and agencies to exchange information and coordinate activities.
- Prepare charges or responses to charges, or information for court cases, according to formalized procedures.
- Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device.
- Identify case issues and evidence needed, based on analysis of charges, complaints, or allegations of law violations.
- Question individuals or observe persons and establishments to confirm information given to patrol officers.
- Notify, or request notification of, medical examiner or district attorney representative.
- Prepare reports that detail investigation findings.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Law and Government — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Psychology — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 4.90 |
| C — Conventional | 4.83 |
| R — Realistic | 4.18 |
| E — Enterprising | 4.04 |
| S — Social | 2.73 |
| A — Artistic | 1.20 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 88.0 |
| ESTJ | 79.7 |
| ISTP | 70.4 |
| INTJ | 70.2 |
| ISFJ | 65.2 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Private Detective and Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/private-detective-and-investigator) — median $51,220
- [Police Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/police-officer) — median $76,210
- [Police Identification and Records Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/police-identification-and-records-officer) — median $93,790
- [First-Line Supervisor of Police and Detectives](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-police-and-detectives) — median $106,040
- [Intelligence Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/intelligence-analyst) — median $93,790
- [Fraud Examiner, Investigator and Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fraud-examiner-investigator-and-analyst) — median $81,100
- [Forensic Science Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forensic-science-technician) — median $72,060
- [Coroner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/coroner) — median $80,730
- [Transit and Railroad Police](https://nuecareer.com/careers/transit-and-railroad-police) — median $90,230
- [Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/probation-officer-and-correctional-treatment-specialist) — median $66,270

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank 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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/detective-and-criminal-investigator