Protective Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 33-3021

Detectives and Criminal Investigators

The published band from $55,390 to $160,540 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Detectives and Criminal Investigators: First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other ($76K) , Parking Enforcement Workers ($47K) , First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers ($56K) , Correctional Officers and Jailers ($59K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Detectives and Criminal Investigators publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 33-3021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Check victims for signs of life, such as breathing and pulse
  2. 2. Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device
  3. 3. Secure deceased body and obtain evidence from it, preventing bystanders from tampering with it prior to medical examiner's arrival
  4. 4. Record progress of investigation, maintain informational files on suspects, and submit reports to commanding officer or magistrate to aut…
  5. 5. Prepare reports that detail investigation findings
  6. 6. Prepare charges or responses to charges, or information for court cases, according to formalized procedures
  7. 7. Preserve, process, and analyze items of evidence obtained from crime scenes and suspects, placing them in proper containers and destroyin…
  8. 8. Obtain summary of incident from officer in charge at crime scene, taking care to avoid disturbing evidence
  9. 9. Note, mark, and photograph location of objects found, such as footprints, tire tracks, bullets and bloodstains, and take measurements of…
  10. 10. Examine records and governmental agency files to find identifying data about suspects
  11. 11. Secure persons at scene, keeping witnesses from conversing or leaving the scene before investigators arrive
  12. 12. Provide information to lab personnel concerning the source of an item of evidence and tests to be performed

Detectives and Criminal Investigators: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 33-3021 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.4 ; lead knowledge Law and Government. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.4
  2. 2. Speaking 4.3
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 4.1
  4. 4. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  5. 5. Social Perceptiveness 3.9
  6. 6. Complex Problem Solving 3.9
  7. 7. Judgment and Decision Making 3.8
  8. 8. Active Learning 3.5

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Law and Government 4.8
  2. 2. Public Safety and Security 4.6
  3. 3. English Language 4.2
  4. 4. Customer and Personal Service 4.0
  5. 5. Psychology 3.9
  6. 6. Computers and Electronics 3.6
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$55,390 to $160,540
median $93,790 · ~2.9× spread
$94K
National median
↓ -1%
Growth 2024-2034
7,800
Annual openings
114,430
Estimated US jobs
First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other
Highest-pay peer · $76K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent
Related experience Less than 5 years

Top Paying States for Detectives and Criminal Investigators

1. Hawaii $113,940
2. California $124,840
3. District of Columbia $160,760
4. Alaska $114,940
5. Maryland $126,730
6. Massachusetts $110,150
7. Virginia $112,760
8. New Jersey $116,300
9. Delaware $122,050
10. Washington $115,790

Other Protective Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Parking Enforcement Workers $46,730
  2. 2. First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other $76,400
  3. 3. First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers $55,940
  4. 4. Correctional Officers and Jailers $58,940
  5. 5. Transportation Security Screeners $66,770
  6. 6. Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers $76,210

The OEWS band for Detectives and Criminal Investigators runs from $55,390 (10th) to $160,540 (90th), about 2.9× wide, with median $93,790. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect -1% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 7,800 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry and less than 5 years as the typical related-work-experience category. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Hawaii at $113,940. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other at $76,400. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Detectives and Criminal Investigators pay-rank #2 in Protective Service Occupations

Among 24 detailed Protective Service Occupations with a published OEWS median, Detectives and Criminal Investigators is pay-rank #2, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Detectives and Criminal Investigators is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Detectives and Criminal Investigators salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 33-3021

Hawaii · top state for Detectives and Criminal Investigators

$114K published median

California · #2 state pay

$125K · behind Hawaii

First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other

Highest-pay peer vs Detectives and Criminal Investigators · $76K

Parking Enforcement Workers

Lower-pay peer beside Detectives and Criminal Investigators · $47K

Compare Detectives and Criminal Investigators

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Detectives and Criminal Investigators with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Protective Service Occupations titles sit near Detectives and Criminal Investigators at the top of the pay table? ▼
Detectives and Criminal Investigators is pay-rank #2 of 24 detailed Protective Service Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers ($94K), Transit and Railroad Police ($90K), First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives ($106K), First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers ($78K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do detectives and criminal investigators do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Detectives and Criminal Investigators. Leading ones include: Check victims for signs of life, such as breathing and pulse; Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device; Secure deceased body and obtain evidence from it, preventing bystanders from tampering with it prior to medical examiner's arrival; Record progress of investigation, maintain informational files on suspects, and submit reports to commanding officer or magistrate to aut…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for detectives and criminal investigators? ▼
For SOC 33-3021, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.4), Speaking (4.3), Critical Thinking (4.1), Reading Comprehension (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize Law and Government, Public Safety and Security, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Detectives and Criminal Investigators? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $55,390 and the 90th at $160,540 for Detectives and Criminal Investigators (2.9× spread). The national median is $93,790. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Detectives and Criminal Investigators? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Detectives and Criminal Investigators is -1%. Projected annual openings: about 7,800. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Detectives and Criminal Investigators? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Detectives and Criminal Investigators. Related-work-experience category: less than 5 years. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Detectives and Criminal Investigators? ▼
Hawaii ($113,940), California ($124,840), District of Columbia ($160,760) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Detectives and Criminal Investigators card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 33-3021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Detectives and Criminal Investigators. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics