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Criminal Justice Careers and Occupations
The field of criminal justice offers some very exciting and rewarding career opportunities. With new breakthroughs in forensic technology and an ever evolving domestic and international criminal justice landscape, it's almost a guarantee a career as a law enforcement or criminal justice professional will be anything but boring. There is an ever expanding list of criminal justice and law enforcement career opportunities that welcome individuals with diverse educational and professional backgrounds.
Whether you are interested in criminology, psychology, political science, social work, engineering, forensics, chemistry, law or even accounting, you'll find a criminal justice career suited to your interests and skill set.
Below is a comprehensive list of the most popular criminal justice and law enforcement career fields. Within each field you'll also find a number of job specialities. For example, many people want to become a "CIA Agent", but they don't realize there are several different types of CIA agents (i.e. Operations Officer, College Management Officer, Intelligence Officer, Language Officer, etc.)? In addition, within each law enforcement agency, there are numerous "Support and Professional" positions, such as intelligence analyst, forensic accountant, applied scientist, engineer, and many more. To learn more about a specific career field, and to the explore the opportunities it offers, simply make your selection from the list below.
Whether you are interested in criminology, psychology, political science, social work, engineering, forensics, chemistry, law or even accounting, you'll find a criminal justice career suited to your interests and skill set.
Below is a comprehensive list of the most popular criminal justice and law enforcement career fields. Within each field you'll also find a number of job specialities. For example, many people want to become a "CIA Agent", but they don't realize there are several different types of CIA agents (i.e. Operations Officer, College Management Officer, Intelligence Officer, Language Officer, etc.)? In addition, within each law enforcement agency, there are numerous "Support and Professional" positions, such as intelligence analyst, forensic accountant, applied scientist, engineer, and many more. To learn more about a specific career field, and to the explore the opportunities it offers, simply make your selection from the list below.
Criminology
CriminologyCriminology is a combination of both sociology and criminal justice. It attemps to understand and explain the anatomy of a crime, specifically its causes, costs, and consquences.
Law Enforcement
- Accounting Forensics
- ATF Agent
- ATF Investigator
- ATF Technician/Professional
- Border Patrol Agent
- CIA Agent
- Coast Guard
- Compliance Officer
- Computer Forensics
- Counter Terrorism
- Crime Laboratory Analyst
- Crime Scene Investigator
- Customs Agent
- DEA Agent
- Deportation Officer (DO)
- Diplomatic Security
- Emergency Management Director
- ERO Agent
- FBI Agent
- Federal Air Marshal
- Federal Protective Service
- Fish & Game Warden
- Forensic Engineer
- Forensic Odontologist
- Forensic Science
- Forensic Science Technician
- Forensic Psychology
- Fraud Investigator
- Homeland Security
- HSI Special Agent
- Immigration Customs (ICE) Agent
- Information Security
- INS Agent
- IRS Special Agent
- K9 Officer
- NSA Police Officer
- Private Security
- Police Detective
- Police Officer
- Private Investigator
- Psychological Profiler
- Secret Service Agent
- Sheriff
- Surveillance Officer
- TSA Screener
- U.S. Marshal
Law EnforcementLaw enforcement officers focus one preventing and investigating crimes, and apprehending suspects. They also work with the courts to see that criminals are prosecuted.
Law enforcement professionals fall into one of three general categories: Uniformed Officers, Investigators, and Support positions. Uniformed officers are our first line of defense against criminals. They patrol communities and respond to calls for assistance. They also investigate robberies and minor crimes.
Investigators are plainclothes law enforcement officers that investigate crimes. Specifically, they gather information and evidence that helps identify criminal activity and prosecute perpetrators.
Support personnel are the law enforcement professionals who work behind the scenes to make sure evidence is analyzed, clues are found, ballistics are examined, and crimes scenes are accurately reconstructed. While not as visible as other law enforcement careers, support personnal are some of the most highly educated and intelligent people in law enforcment.
Courts
Courts & Judicial SystemThe courts are at the center of the U.S. criminal justice system. Their primary objective is to determine the guilt or innocence of suspected criminals, and then set sentencing.
Corrections
Corrections & RehabilitationThe corrections system in the U.S. is established to career out sentencing of a criminals and to enforce punishments. The three main components of the U.S. corrections sytem include incarceration, probation and parole.
Employment Statistics
Criminal justice occupations include criminologists, police officers, correctional officers, detectives, investigators, and immigration officers, among others. The industries that employ the greatest number of criminal justice professionals include those listed in the table below.
The following map displays the number of protectice service professionals (including by criminal justice and law enforcement officers) on a state by state basis in all 50 US states. Dark green states represent those states that employ the largest number of criminal justice professionals. Light green states employ the least number of law enforcement and criminal justice professionals.
The table below lists the US states where the largest number of criminal justice professionals and law enforcement officers are employed, along with the location quotient and mean wage for each state.
The location quotients, as displayed in the table above and map below, represent the ratio of the concentration of criminal justice and law enforcement professionals employed in a state to the average concentration for the entire nation. A state with a location quotient less than once indicates that the state has a larger share of employment of criminal justice professionals than the national average.
The following map of the United States displays the location quotient for criminal justice and law enforcement professionals ("Protect Service Occupations") for each state in nation.
The following table lists those US states with the highest location quotient for protective service occupations.
| Industry | Employment | % of Industry Employment | Mean hourly way | Mean annual wage |
| Local Government | 1,378,200 | 25% | $26 | $53,170 |
| Investigative and Security Services | 668,400 | 80% | $13 | $26,600 |
| State Government | 391,000 | 18% | $25 | $51,000 |
| Federal Government | 147,800 | 7% | $31 | $65,000 |
| Elementary and Secondary Education Institutions | 69,900 | 1% | $39 | $81,000 |
The table below lists the US states where the largest number of criminal justice professionals and law enforcement officers are employed, along with the location quotient and mean wage for each state.| State | Employment | Location quotient | Mean hourly way | Mean annual wage |
| California | 353,000 | .98 | $25 | $52,900 |
| Texas | 284,500 | 1.06 | $19.5 | $40,600 |
| New York | 276,800 | 1.30 | $25 | $52,300 |
| Florida | 222,000 | 1.21 | $19 | $40,000 |
| Illinois | 145,500 | 1.04 | $23 | $47,600 |
The following map of the United States displays the location quotient for criminal justice and law enforcement professionals ("Protect Service Occupations") for each state in nation.
The following table lists those US states with the highest location quotient for protective service occupations.| State | Employment | Location quotient | Mean hourly way | Mean annual wage |
| District of Columbia | 28,400 | 1.73 | $27 | $56,500 |
| Hawaii | 21,000 | 1.42 | $20 | $40,600 |
| Nevada | 38,600 | 1.36 | $20 | $20,700 |
| New York | 276,800 | 1.3 | $25 | $52,300 |
| Arizona | 77,600 | 1.28 | $21 | $44,200 |
Salary and Wage Data
There are many factors that influence the earning potential for criminal justice professionals and law enforcement officers. These include (1) specialty, (2) experience, (3) industry and (4) location. While all these factors influence the salary and wage a criminal justice professional can expect to earn, location has one of the biggest impacts on compensation. For example, a probation officer working in Nebraska can expect to earn roughly $35,000 a year. However, that same probation officer, with the same level of training and experience, will make over $55,000 a year fulfilling the same job responsibilities working in New York City. As you consider where you want to work, you'll also want to consider relative earnings for that region.
The following table shows the hourly and annual wage for each percentile of criminal justice and law enforcement professionals working in the United States.
The following map of the United States shows the annual mean wage for all criminal justice and law enforcement professionals on a state by state basis. Those states shown in dark blue have the highest annual mean wage, where those in light blue have the lowest annual mean wage.
The following table lists the 5 states with the highest mean wage for criminal justice professionals along with total employment, location quotient, mean hourly wage and mean annual wage figures. (Note: the Mean wage is where 50% of workers make more, while 50% of workers make less.)
The following table lists the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest mean wage for criminal justice professionals along with total employment, location quotient, mean hourly wage and mean annual wage figures.
The following table lists the the 5 non-metro areas that have the highest mean wage for criminal justice and law enforcement professionals.
The following table shows the hourly and annual wage for each percentile of criminal justice and law enforcement professionals working in the United States.
| Percentile | 10% | 25% | 50% (Median) | 75% | 90% |
| Hourly Wage | $9.15 | $11.75 | $17.70 | $27.35 | $38.05 |
| Annual Wage | $19,000 | $24,400 | $36,800 | $56,900 | $79,200 |
The following table lists the 5 states with the highest mean wage for criminal justice professionals along with total employment, location quotient, mean hourly wage and mean annual wage figures. (Note: the Mean wage is where 50% of workers make more, while 50% of workers make less.)| State | Employment | Location quotient | Mean hourly way | Mean annual wage |
| District of Columbia | 28,400 | 1.73 | $28 | $56,500 |
| New Jersey | 99,000 | 1.05 | $27 | $55,900 |
| California | 353,000 | .98 | $25 | $52,900 |
| Alaska | 7,890 | 1.00 | $26 | $52,500 |
| New York | 276,800 | 1.30 | $26 | $52,300 |
| Metro area | Employment | Location quotient | Mean hourly way | Mean annual wage |
| Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 3,780 | 4.11 | $34.50 | $71,700 |
| El Centro, CA | 3,840 | 3.01 | $32 | $66,500 |
| Salinas, CA | 4,300 | 1.12 | $31.50 | $65,500 |
| Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 2,960 | .99 | $31.45 | $65,400 |
| Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, NJ | 2,820 | 1.97 | $31.20 | $64,900 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | 2,940 | 1.17 | $30.70 | $63,880 |
| Bakersfield-Delano, CA | 9,290 | 1.31 | $29.70 | $61,770 |
| Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Division | 2,760 | 1.25 | $29.65 | $61,700 |
| Bellingham, WA | 1,600 | .85 | $29.65 | $61,700 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division | 24,760 | .96 | $29.40 | $61,150 |
| Nonmetropolitan area | Employment | Location quotient | Mean hourly way | Mean annual wage |
| Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area | 3,480 | 2.32 | $32 | $65,000 |
| Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area | 2,580 | 2.78 | $31 | $62,800 |
| Southwestern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area | 1,240 | 1.90 | $29 | $61,100 |
| Railbelt / Southwest Alaska nonmetropolitan area | 2,020 | 1.11 | $28.70 | $59,700 |
| Southeast Arizona nonmetropolitan area | 4,720 | 3.25 | $28 | $58,700 |
Job Outlook
Unfortunately, crime is not decreasing. Our nation faces greater threats to its domestic and national security than ever before. Even though the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that job growth in criminal justice and law enforcement is expected to be about the same as the average for all other occupations, law enforcement agencies are going to be looking for criminal justice professionals with specialized skills, knowledge and backgrounds. While there are a few entry-level positions in criminal justice and law enforcement that don't require a degree, positions will be most plentiful for those candidates that have an advanced degree in criminal justice, technology, cybercrimes, linguistics, psychology, forensic science, chemistry, computer science, and accounting. If you really want to set yourself apart from other job seekers, earning a master's degree or Phd is recommended. Most entry-level criminal justice positions at minimum will require a 4-year college degree.
The BLS estimates that between 2014 and 2024 job growth for criminal justice occupations will average right around 12%. Law enforcement agencies will primarily be looking to hire police officer, detectives, and private security professionals. Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DIA and DEA, will also be hiring new recruits and agents, but not as many. There will be a lot of competition for criminal justice jobs within federal law enforcement agencies. Job opportunities will be best for candidates with specializeds skills and training. Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies will all be seeking candidates with specialized computer technology skills.
The following table shows the projected job growth as a percentage increase between 2014 and 2024 for several of the more popular criminal justice and law enforcement occupations.
The BLS estimates that between 2014 and 2024 job growth for criminal justice occupations will average right around 12%. Law enforcement agencies will primarily be looking to hire police officer, detectives, and private security professionals. Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DIA and DEA, will also be hiring new recruits and agents, but not as many. There will be a lot of competition for criminal justice jobs within federal law enforcement agencies. Job opportunities will be best for candidates with specializeds skills and training. Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies will all be seeking candidates with specialized computer technology skills.
The following table shows the projected job growth as a percentage increase between 2014 and 2024 for several of the more popular criminal justice and law enforcement occupations.
| Correctional Officers | 5% |
| Fire Inspectors | 6% |
| Police and Detectives | 5% |
| Private Detectives and Investigators | 11% |
| Security Guards | 12% |
| Forensic Scientist/Science Technician | 19% |
| Lawyer | 10% |
| Court Reporter | 14% |
| Correctional Treatment Specialist | 19% |
| Paralegal/Legal Assistant | 20% |
| Cybersecurity | 25+% |
| Information Security Analyst | 37% |
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