---
title: "Private Detective and Investigator"
description: "Gather, analyze, compile, and report information regarding individuals or organizations to clients, or detect occurrences of unlawful acts or infractions…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/private-detective-and-investigator"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Private Detective and Investigator

**Category:** Protective Service · **SOC code:** 33-9021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 33-9021.00

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.

Also advertised as: Asset Protection Detective; Field Investigator; Investigator; Loss Prevention Agent; Loss Prevention Associate; Loss Prevention Detective; Loss Prevention Investigator; Loss Prevention Officer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $51,220 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.62/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $36,740 to $97,630, with the middle half between $40,700 and $73,990
- **Total US employment:** 35,580
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +5.5% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 3,200 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 25/100 — 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 35,580 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $36,740 |
| 25th | $40,700 |
| 50th (median) | $51,220 |
| 75th | $73,990 |
| 90th | $97,630 |
| Mean (average) | $60,150 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OR | $76,480 | $73,993 | 610 |
| CT | $75,010 | $72,396 | 400 |
| DC | $72,720 | $66,169 | Not published by BLS |
| VT | $67,910 | $69,326 | 90 |
| NH | $65,370 | $62,756 | 280 |
| WA | $64,080 | $59,881 | 750 |
| CA | $61,250 | $55,320 | 4,190 |
| AZ | $61,030 | $60,620 | 790 |
| IL | $60,210 | $60,235 | 1,300 |
| NY | $59,140 | $54,799 | 1,300 |
| UT | $57,910 | $58,575 | 350 |
| MN | $57,880 | $58,689 | 600 |
| VA | $56,160 | $55,547 | 1,280 |
| DE | $55,710 | $55,817 | 110 |
| NJ | $54,710 | $50,283 | 410 |

35 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 50 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/private-detective-and-investigator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/private-detective-and-investigator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 39,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 41,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 2,200 jobs, or +5.5%. Faster than average: 5.5% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 3,200 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:** 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 |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 37.7% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 25.1% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 16.4% |
| Some College Courses | 12.1% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 4.5% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 4.3% |

## What the work involves

- Write reports or case summaries to document investigations.
- Search computer databases, credit reports, public records, tax or legal filings, or other resources to locate persons or to compile information for investigations.
- Testify at hearings or court trials to present evidence.
- Conduct personal background investigations, such as pre-employment checks, to obtain information about an individual's character, financial status, or personal history.
- Obtain and analyze information on suspects, crimes, or disturbances to solve cases, to identify criminal activity, or to gather information for court cases.
- Expose fraudulent insurance claims or stolen funds.
- Conduct private investigations on a paid basis.
- Observe and document activities of individuals to detect unlawful acts or to obtain evidence for cases, using binoculars and still or video cameras.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — 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 2.5 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.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Law and Government — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.9 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), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 5.45 |
| E — Enterprising | 4.07 |
| I — Investigative | 3.90 |
| S — Social | 2.87 |
| R — Realistic | 2.39 |
| A — Artistic | 1.42 |

### 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 | 81.5 |
| ISTJ | 79.0 |
| ISFJ | 69.5 |
| ESFJ | 67.0 |
| ENTJ | 63.6 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ, ISTJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Detective and Criminal Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/detective-and-criminal-investigator) — median $93,790
- [Fraud Examiner, Investigator and Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fraud-examiner-investigator-and-analyst) — median $81,100
- [Intelligence Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/intelligence-analyst) — median $93,790
- [Police Identification and Records Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/police-identification-and-records-officer) — median $93,790
- [Retail Loss Prevention Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-loss-prevention-specialist) — median $42,540
- [Police Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/police-officer) — median $76,210
- [Compliance Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/compliance-officer) — median $80,730
- [Government Property Inspector and Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/government-property-inspector-and-investigator) — median $80,730
- [First-Line Supervisor of Police and Detectives](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-police-and-detectives) — median $106,040
- [Forensic Science Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forensic-science-technician) — median $72,060

## 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/private-detective-and-investigator