Protective Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 33-9021

Private Detectives and Investigators

The published band from $36,740 to $97,630 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Private Detectives and Investigators: First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers ($94K) , Parking Enforcement Workers ($47K) , Transit and Railroad Police ($90K) , Firefighters ($59K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Private Detectives and Investigators publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 33-9021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Write reports or case summaries to document investigations
  2. 2. Conduct private investigations on a paid basis
  3. 3. Search computer databases, credit reports, public records, tax or legal filings, or other resources to locate persons or to compile infor…
  4. 4. Conduct personal background investigations, such as pre-employment checks, to obtain information about an individual's character, financi…
  5. 5. Expose fraudulent insurance claims or stolen funds
  6. 6. Obtain and analyze information on suspects, crimes, or disturbances to solve cases, to identify criminal activity, or to gather informati…
  7. 7. Testify at hearings or court trials to present evidence
  8. 8. Question persons to obtain evidence for cases of divorce, child custody, or missing persons or information about individuals' character o…
  9. 9. Observe and document activities of individuals to detect unlawful acts or to obtain evidence for cases, using binoculars and still or vid…
  10. 10. Investigate companies' financial standings, or locate funds stolen by embezzlers, using accounting skills
  11. 11. Perform undercover operations, such as evaluating the performance or honesty of employees by posing as customers or employees
  12. 12. Alert appropriate personnel to suspects' locations

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

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 33-9021 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.1 ; lead knowledge English Language. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.1
  2. 2. Speaking 4.0
  3. 3. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 3.9
  5. 5. Complex Problem Solving 3.8
  6. 6. Writing 3.6
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.5
  8. 8. Active Learning 3.4

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. English Language 4.2
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.2
  3. 3. Law and Government 4.0
  4. 4. Computers and Electronics 3.6
  5. 5. Administrative 3.5
  6. 6. Administration and Management 3.5
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$36,740 to $97,630
median $51,220 · ~2.7× spread
$51K
National median
↑ +6%
Growth 2024-2034
3,900
Annual openings
35,580
Estimated US jobs
First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
Highest-pay peer · $94K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

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

Top Paying States for Private Detectives and Investigators

1. New York $59,140
2. Arizona $61,030
3. Illinois $60,210
4. Vermont $67,910
5. New Hampshire $65,370
6. Washington $64,080
7. California $61,250
8. Oregon $76,480
9. District of Columbia $72,720
10. Connecticut $75,010

Other Protective Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Transit and Railroad Police $90,230
  2. 2. Firefighters $59,280
  3. 3. Fire Inspectors and Investigators $75,920
  4. 4. Parking Enforcement Workers $46,730
  5. 5. Correctional Officers and Jailers $58,940
  6. 6. First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers $93,530

The OEWS band for Private Detectives and Investigators runs from $36,740 (10th) to $97,630 (90th), about 2.7× wide, with median $51,220. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +6% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 3,900 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: New York at $59,140. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers at $93,530. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Private Detectives and Investigators pay-rank #16 in Protective Service Occupations

Private Detectives and Investigators sits at pay-rank #16 of 24 detailed Protective Service Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table 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 Private Detectives and Investigators is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Private Detectives and Investigators salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 33-9021

New York · top state for Private Detectives and Investigators

$59K published median

Arizona · #2 state pay

$61K · behind New York

First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers

Highest-pay peer vs Private Detectives and Investigators · $94K

Parking Enforcement Workers

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

Compare Private Detectives and Investigators

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Private Detectives and 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

Is Private Detectives and Investigators mid-table among Protective Service Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #16 of 24 detailed Protective Service Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers ($56K), Bailiffs ($57K), Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists ($57K), Correctional Officers and Jailers ($59K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do private detectives and investigators do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Private Detectives and Investigators. Leading ones include: Write reports or case summaries to document investigations; Conduct private investigations on a paid basis; Search computer databases, credit reports, public records, tax or legal filings, or other resources to locate persons or to compile infor…; Conduct personal background investigations, such as pre-employment checks, to obtain information about an individual's character, financi…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for private detectives and investigators? ▼
For SOC 33-9021, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.1), Speaking (4.0), Reading Comprehension (3.9), Critical Thinking (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Law and Government. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Private Detectives and Investigators? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $36,740 and the 90th at $97,630 for Private Detectives and Investigators (2.7× spread). The national median is $51,220. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Private Detectives and Investigators? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Private Detectives and Investigators is +6%. Projected annual openings: about 3,900. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Private Detectives and Investigators? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Private Detectives and 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 Private Detectives and Investigators? ▼
New York ($59,140), Arizona ($61,030), Illinois ($60,210) 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 Private Detectives and Investigators card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 33-9021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Private Detectives and 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