---
title: "Gambling Surveillance Officer and Gambling Investigator"
description: "Observe gambling operation for irregular activities such as cheating or theft by either employees or patrons. Investigate potential threats to gambling…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/gambling-surveillance-officer-and-gambling-investigator"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Gambling Surveillance Officer and Gambling Investigator

**Category:** Protective Service · **SOC code:** 33-9031 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 33-9031.00

Observe gambling operation for irregular activities such as cheating or theft by either employees or patrons. Investigate potential threats to gambling assets such as money, chips, and gambling equipment. Act as oversight and security agent for management and customers.

Also advertised as: Casino Enforcement Agent; Gaming Investigator; Security Officer; Surveillance Agent; Surveillance Investigator; Surveillance Monitor; Surveillance Observer; Surveillance Officer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $43,370 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $20.85/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $32,730 to $61,970, with the middle half between $36,270 and $49,210
- **Total US employment:** 9,520
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -1.8% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 23/100 — 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 9,520 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $32,730 |
| 25th | $36,270 |
| 50th (median) | $43,370 |
| 75th | $49,210 |
| 90th | $61,970 |
| Mean (average) | $45,630 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MA | $61,770 | $58,407 | 80 |
| CT | $56,300 | $54,338 | 180 |
| OR | $50,120 | $48,490 | 70 |
| AZ | $50,010 | $49,674 | 380 |
| NY | $49,110 | $45,506 | 170 |
| NJ | $48,620 | $44,685 | 270 |
| MD | $47,950 | $45,685 | 120 |
| IN | $46,910 | $50,263 | 380 |
| ND | $46,740 | $52,541 | 120 |
| MI | $46,620 | $48,453 | 330 |
| NV | $46,570 | $46,580 | 820 |
| OH | $45,880 | $49,454 | 190 |
| WA | $45,740 | $42,742 | 470 |
| CA | $44,740 | $40,408 | 990 |
| CO | $44,340 | $43,027 | 100 |

20 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 35 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/gambling-surveillance-officer-and-gambling-investigator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/gambling-surveillance-officer-and-gambling-investigator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 9,800 in the 2025–2035 base year to 9,600 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 200 jobs, or -1.8%. Declining: -1.8% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some 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 or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 84.1% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 5.9% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 5.1% |
| Some College Courses | 2.7% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 2.2% |

## What the work involves

- Report all violations and suspicious behaviors to supervisors, verbally or in writing.
- Develop and maintain log of surveillance observations.
- Monitor establishment activities to ensure adherence to all state gaming regulations and company policies and procedures.
- Review video surveillance footage.
- Observe casino or casino hotel operations for irregular activities, such as cheating or theft by employees or patrons, using audio and video equipment and one-way mirrors.
- Inspect and monitor audio or video surveillance equipment to ensure it is working appropriately.
- Act as oversight or security agents for management or customers.
- Supervise or train surveillance observers.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.5 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.

- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Management of Personnel Resources — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Selective Attention — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Far Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 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 Conventional (C), Enterprising (E), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 5.62 |
| E — Enterprising | 4.78 |
| R — Realistic | 4.14 |
| I — Investigative | 2.17 |
| S — Social | 2.15 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### 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) |
| --- | --- |
| ESTJ | 89.9 |
| ISTJ | 84.1 |
| ISFJ | 74.8 |
| ESFJ | 74.7 |
| ESTP | 63.1 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Security Management Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-management-specialist) — median $83,050
- [Security Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-manager) — median $106,660
- [Digital Forensics Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/digital-forensics-analyst) — median $116,580
- [First-Line Supervisor of Security Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-security-workers) — median $55,940
- [Private Detective and Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/private-detective-and-investigator) — median $51,220
- [First-Line Supervisor of Gambling Services Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-gambling-services-workers) — median $63,820
- [Gambling Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/gambling-manager) — median $93,220
- [Retail Loss Prevention Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-loss-prevention-specialist) — median $42,540
- [Detective and Criminal Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/detective-and-criminal-investigator) — median $93,790
- [Camera Operator, Television, Video, and Film](https://nuecareer.com/careers/camera-operator-television-video-and-film) — median $74,990

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 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, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 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 31.0 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/gambling-surveillance-officer-and-gambling-investigator