# Private Detectives and Investigators

SOC 33-9021. Page: https://educationguide.com/careers/private-detectives-and-investigators

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.

## Pay and outlook
- U.S. median wage $51,220 (middle half $40,700–$73,990; BLS May 2025)
- Ages 25-34: median $54,889; 58% hold a bachelor's or higher (Census ACS 2020-2024)
- Jobs 2025-35: 5.5%; ~3.2k openings a year; typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent

## Fields of degree of young workers (ages 25-34, bachelor's+)
- Criminal Justice And Fire Protection: 18% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/criminal-justice, https://educationguide.com/degrees/security-homeland-security)
- Business Management And Administration: 6% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/business-administration)
- General Business: 6% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/business)
- Psychology: 5% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/psychology)
- Criminology: 4% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/criminology)
- Political Science And Government: 3% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/political-science)
- Biology: 3% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/biology)
- Finance: 3% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/finance, https://educationguide.com/degrees/insurance)
- Communications: 3% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/communications, https://educationguide.com/degrees/communication-journalism-and-related-programs-other)
- History: 3% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/history)

## Median wage by state
- AK: $53,440
- AL: $46,810
- AR: $47,750
- AZ: $61,030
- CA: $61,250
- CO: $48,730
- CT: $75,010
- DC: $72,720
- DE: $55,710
- FL: $50,640
- GA: $45,060
- HI: $45,750
- IA: $41,110
- ID: $47,910
- IL: $60,210
- IN: $41,830
- KS: $45,260
- KY: $47,650
- LA: $41,950
- MA: $50,240
- ME: $43,830
- MI: $48,650
- MN: $57,880
- MO: $41,600
- MS: $39,060
- MT: $47,430
- NC: $52,890
- ND: $44,310
- NE: $51,750
- NH: $65,370
- NJ: $54,710
- NM: $41,600
- NY: $59,140
- OH: $47,200
- OK: $39,680
- OR: $76,480
- PA: $51,200
- PR: $42,190
- RI: $54,620
- SC: $51,530
- SD: $44,840
- TN: $49,360
- TX: $51,810
- UT: $57,910
- VA: $56,160
- VT: $67,910
- WA: $64,080
- WI: $41,850
- WV: $46,410
- WY: $54,310

Method: https://educationguide.com/how-we-score#careers

Free to reuse with attribution: cite "EducationGuide.com" with a link to the page URL. Most figures are U.S. government data (public domain); loan default rates and athletics come from the Urban Institute Education Data Portal (ODC-By 1.0, attribution required) and founding years from Wikidata (CC0). O*NET data: CC BY 4.0, O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA).