Most common destination first. Every card carries the national median annual wage, projected employment change and openings over 2024–2034, and the typical education people already in the job hold.
What Can You Do With a Criminal Justice Degree?
Below are 15 occupations that criminal justice graduates commonly move into, most common first. Police Officer leads at $76,210 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025); across the whole list the middle occupation pays $76,210 and 1 of 15 typically need a graduate degree. A major is a body of study, not a job assignment, so treat every entry as a common destination rather than a promise.
What the degree actually involves: Policing, courts, corrections, criminology, and evidence and procedure law.
Criminal justice is a vocational-leaning degree, and most of its destinations sit inside law enforcement, corrections, courts and private security. It is worth knowing early that many of those jobs hire on an academy, a test and a background check rather than on the degree, so the degree is an advantage rather than the entry ticket.
- Common destinations
- 15
- Median pay range
- $38,020–$159,670
- Projected to grow
- 12 of 15
- Need a graduate degree
- 1 of 15
9 with a full profile page
BLS OEWS, May 2025
BLS EP, 2024–2034
BLS EP typical entry, 2024–2034
How this list was built
- The destinations are the occupations criminal justice graduates commonly move into. They are ordered by how common the destination is, not by what it pays, so the ordinary outcomes sit at the top where they belong rather than being buried under the flattering ones.
- Every destination is matched to a real occupation in the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. A destination that does not resolve to a bank occupation is dropped rather than shown without data.
- All pay, growth, openings and education figures come from that bank: BLS OEWS May 2025 for wages, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 for projected change, annual openings and the typical education needed for entry, and O*NET 30.3 Database for what the work involves. Nothing is estimated and no figure here is generated by an AI model.
- Destinations whose BLS typical entry education is a master’s or a doctoral or professional degree are marked Graduate study on the list. That flag is read from the federal data, not asserted by us.
- What this list is not: a ranking of which destination you should pick, a statement of how many graduates reach each one, or a promise that the degree entitles you to any of them. Read the full methodology.
15 careers a criminal justice degree commonly leads to
1. Police Officer
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $76,210
- Growth
- +3.1%
- Openings/yr
- 53,700
- Education
- High school
Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances.
Police Officer salary & outlook →2. Correctional Officer and Jailer
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $58,940
- Growth
- -7.8%
- Openings/yr
- 30,100
- Education
- High school
Guard inmates in penal or rehabilitative institutions in accordance with established regulations and procedures.
Correctional Officer and Jailer salary & outlook →3. Security Guard
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $38,020
- Growth
- +0.4%
- Openings/yr
- 161,000
- Education
- High school
Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules.
Security Guard salary & outlook →4. Detective and Criminal Investigator
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $93,790
- Growth
- -0.7%
- Openings/yr
- 7,800
- Education
- High school
Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes.
Detective and Criminal Investigator salary & outlook →5. Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist
Community and Social Service
- Median pay
- $66,270
- Growth
- +2.6%
- Openings/yr
- 7,900
- Education
- Bachelor's
Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
6. Paralegal
Legal
- Median pay
- $62,890
- Growth
- +0.2%
- Openings/yr
- 39,300
- Education
- Associate's
Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent.
Paralegal salary & outlook →7. Private Detective and Investigator
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $51,220
- Growth
- +6.0%
- Openings/yr
- 3,900
- Education
- High school
Gather, analyze, compile, and report information regarding individuals or organizations to clients, or detect occurrences of unlawful acts or infractions of rules in private establishment.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
8. Custom and Border Protection Officer
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $76,210
- Growth
- +3.1%
- Openings/yr
- 53,700
- Education
- High school
Investigate and inspect persons, common carriers, goods, and merchandise, arriving in or departing from the United States or between states to detect violations of immigration and customs laws and regulations.
Custom and Border Protection Officer salary & outlook →9. Transit and Railroad Police
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $90,230
- Growth
- +3.0%
- Openings/yr
- 200
- Education
- High school
Protect and police railroad and transit property, employees, or passengers.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
10. First-Line Supervisor of Police and Detectives
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $106,040
- Growth
- +2.9%
- Openings/yr
- 10,900
- Education
- High school
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of members of police force.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
11. Forensic Science Technician
Life, Physical, and Social Science
- Median pay
- $72,060
- Growth
- +12.8%
- Openings/yr
- 2,900
- Education
- Bachelor's
Collect, identify, classify, and analyze physical evidence related to criminal investigations.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
12. Fraud Examiner, Investigator and Analyst
Business and Financial Operations
- Median pay
- $81,100
- Growth
- +3.1%
- Openings/yr
- 10,300
- Education
- Bachelor's
Obtain evidence, take statements, produce reports, and testify to findings regarding resolution of fraud allegations.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
13. Intelligence Analyst
Protective Service
- Median pay
- $93,790
- Growth
- -0.7%
- Openings/yr
- 7,800
- Education
- High school
Gather, analyze, or evaluate information from a variety of sources, such as law enforcement databases, surveillance, intelligence networks or geographic information systems.
Intelligence Analyst salary & outlook →14. Security Manager
Management
- Median pay
- $106,660
- Growth
- +3.8%
- Openings/yr
- 13,200
- Education
- Bachelor's
Direct an organization's security functions, including physical security and safety of employees and facilities.
Security Manager salary & outlook →- Graduate study
15. Lawyer
Legal
- Median pay
- $159,670
- Growth
- +4.1%
- Openings/yr
- 31,500
- Education
- Doctorate
Represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions.
Lawyer salary & outlook →
Does a criminal justice degree decide your career?
For most people, no. Federal survey data has consistently found that only a minority of US graduates work in a job closely related to their degree field, and that share falls further with each year after graduation. The exceptions are the fields where a licence sits at the end of the degree, and they are exceptions precisely because the route is fixed.
The practical reading of the list above is this: 14 of the 15 destinations are typically entered with a bachelor's degree or less, and 1 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). If the destination you want is in the second group, the extra years are part of the decision from day one, not a detail to sort out later.
Not sure this is the right major in the first place? Take the free college major quiz — fifteen questions that score what you like doing against what each major actually asks of you, and show the same real occupations underneath every match.
Criminal Justice degrees: FAQ
Do you need a master's degree after a criminal justice degree?
For 14 of the 15 destinations on this page, no: BLS Employment Projections (2024–2034) list a bachelor's degree or less as the typical entry requirement. The other 1 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree, and each is marked on the list below. "Typical" describes what people already in the job hold, not an admissions rule.
What is the highest-paying career a criminal justice degree leads to?
Of the 15 destinations on this page, Lawyer has the highest national median wage at $159,670 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), against $50,980 for all US occupations. Typical entry education for it is doctorate, so it usually means further study after the degree. A median is the midpoint of everyone in the job today, so a first salary normally sits well below it.
Which of these careers hires the most people each year?
Security Guard, with about 161,000 projected openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). Across all 15 destinations on this page the combined figure is roughly 434,200 openings a year. Openings include replacing people who leave, not just new jobs, which is why a slow-growing occupation can still hire heavily.
Is a criminal justice degree worth it?
That depends on the price you pay for it, which this page cannot know. What it can tell you is where the destinations sit: the middle occupation on this list pays $76,210 a year against $50,980 for all US occupations, the range runs $38,020–$159,670, and 12 of the 15 are projected to grow over 2024–2034 (BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034).
How was this list of careers put together?
The destinations were curated as the occupations criminal justice graduates commonly move into, ordered by how common rather than by pay, then matched against the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. Every figure shown comes from that bank: wages from BLS OEWS May 2025, projected change and annual openings and typical entry education from BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, and occupation descriptions from O*NET 30.3 Database. Nothing is estimated, and no figure on this page is generated by an AI model.
What can you do with other degrees?
- Computer Science
- Nursing
- Mechanical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Business Administration
- Finance and Accounting
- Marketing
- Psychology
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Education
- Communications and Journalism
- Graphic Design
- Political Science and Pre-Law
- Environmental Science
- Kinesiology and Exercise Science
- Social Work
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Hospitality and Event Management
- Sociology
- Public Health
- Philosophy
- Health Science
- History
- Anthropology
- English
- Nutrition and Dietetics
- Art History
- Information Technology
- Human Resources
- Economics