Jobs With a Criminal Justice Degree: Pay and Entry Rules
Jobs with a criminal justice degree include police officers, detectives, probation officers, correctional officers, FBI agents, private investigators and crime scene investigators. Three of the seven ask for a bachelor’s degree, and the rest start at a high school diploma. Median pay runs from $51,220 to $93,790 on BLS’s May 2025 figures.
Jobs With a Criminal Justice Degree, Job by Job
Each card gives the median pay and what BLS lists as the typical entry education. The job’s own page has the training, the state pay figures and the outlook.
- Median Pay $76,210, SOC 33-3051 Police Officer Typical entry education: high school diploma, no related work experience. About 51,500 openings a year are projected for patrol officers.
- Median Pay $93,790, SOC 33-3021 Detective Typical entry education: high school diploma plus less than 5 years of related experience. Detectives typically begin their careers as police officers.
- Median Pay $66,270, SOC 21-1092 Probation Officer Typical entry education: a bachelor’s degree, with criminal justice the first field of degree BLS names.
- Median Pay $58,940, SOC 33-3012 Correctional Officer Typical entry education: high school diploma. BLS projects that employment of correctional officers and bailiffs will decline 7 percent from 2025 to 2035.
- Posted Pay $93,749-$133,200 FBI Agent The current posting requires a bachelor’s degree or higher from a U.S. accredited college or university.
- Median Pay $51,220, SOC 33-9021 Private Investigator Typical entry education: high school diploma plus less than 5 years of experience. Most states require a license.
- Median Pay $72,060, SOC 19-4092 Crime Scene Investigator Typical entry education: a bachelor’s degree in a science field. Criminal justice is not among the fields BLS names.
Which Jobs With a Criminal Justice Degree Need One?
BLS’s education assignments sort the seven like this. Police officers and correctional officers start at a high school diploma. Detectives and private investigators also start there, with less than 5 years of related work experience. A bachelor’s degree is the typical entry for probation officers and crime scene investigators, and the FBI’s special agent posting requires one.
| Job | Typical entry education | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Police Officer (SOC 33-3051) | High school diploma, no related work experience | $76,210 median |
| Detective (SOC 33-3021) | High school diploma plus less than 5 years of related experience | $93,790 median |
| Probation Officer (SOC 21-1092) | Bachelor’s degree | $66,270 median |
| Correctional Officer (SOC 33-3012) | High school diploma | $58,940 median |
| FBI Agent | Bachelor’s degree or higher, required by the posting | $93,749 to $133,200 posted |
| Private Investigator (SOC 33-9021) | High school diploma plus less than 5 years of experience | $51,220 median |
| Crime Scene Investigator (SOC 19-4092) | Bachelor’s degree | $72,060 median |
The pay column mixes two kinds of figure on purpose, and labels them: BLS medians from its May 2025 wage survey, and the range from the FBI’s posting. The salary page sets the BLS figures side by side with percentiles and states.
Where Criminal Justice Is Named as a Qualification
A criminal justice degree counts most where an employer or a statute names it. These are the places the sources do, in the sources’ own terms, and the one place BLS names something else.
| Job | What the source says |
|---|---|
| Probation officers | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: criminal justice is the first field of degree it names, and a master’s degree in criminal justice, social work or psychology may be helpful for advancing. |
| Police officers | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: many community colleges and four-year colleges offer programs in law enforcement and criminal justice. It names security and protective service and social science as common fields of degree, and some departments offer additional pay for college degrees. |
| Deputy U.S. marshals | U.S. Marshals Service: the grade 7 route accepts a bachelor’s degree with major study in a field related to law enforcement, and the fields it lists begin with criminal justice and criminology. |
| Federal correctional officers | Federal Bureau of Prisons: the GL-06 grade accepts 9 semester hours of graduate education in a major study in criminal justice, social science or another field related to the position. |
| Texas private investigators | Texas Department of Public Safety: a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or a related course of study meets the experience rule for an investigations company’s representative. |
| Florida private investigators | Florida Statutes section 493.6203: college coursework related to criminal justice, criminology or law enforcement administration counts toward the experience, for no more than 1 year. |
| California private investigators | California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services: an associate degree in police science, criminal law or justice plus 2½ years (5,000 hours) of experience meets the experience rule. |
| Crime scene investigators | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: physical science, biology or forensic science are the fields of study it names for forensic science technicians. |
Where a Criminal Justice Degree Helps After the First Job
Some of the value shows up later. BLS says some police departments offer additional pay for bilingual officers or those with college degrees, and a bachelor’s degree may be required for advancement to lieutenant or a higher rank. For probation officers, a master’s degree in criminal justice, social work or psychology may be helpful for advancing. At the Bureau of Prisons, the grade you start at depends on your education, from a bachelor’s degree in any field to graduate study in criminal justice.
Degree Routes Into Criminal Justice Careers
The rankings compare programs on cost, graduate earnings and four other factors. The top-ranked bachelor’s program, California State University-East Bay, and the top-ranked online bachelor’s program, Columbia Southern University, show what the ranked cards look like.
- Two-Year Degrees Associate Degree in Criminal Justice 683 ranked associate’s programs, scored on cost, graduate earnings and four other factors.
- Online Bachelor’s Degrees Online Criminal Justice Degree 187 ranked online bachelor’s programs, priced for an online student from another state.
- Campus and Online Best Colleges for Criminal Justice 745 ranked bachelor’s programs, campus and online, priced at the in-state rate.
- Graduate Degrees Masters in Criminal Justice 231 ranked master’s programs, priced at the graduate rate a resident pays.
- Online Master’s Degrees Online Masters in Criminal Justice 57 ranked online master’s programs, priced at the graduate rate for an online student from another state.
Criminal Justice Career Questions
What Can You Do With a Criminal Justice Degree?
What Are the Highest Paying Criminal Justice Jobs?
Which Criminal Justice Jobs Need a Bachelor’s Degree?
What Criminal Justice Jobs Pay Well Without a Degree?
Sources for the Criminal Justice Careers Guide
- Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- Pay for Detectives and Criminal Investigators (SOC 33-3021): BLS OEWS occupation profile, May 2025.
- Pay for Private Detectives and Investigators (SOC 33-9021): BLS OEWS occupation profile, May 2025.
- Education and pay by job: the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for police and detectives, probation officers, correctional officers, private detectives and forensic science technicians, last modified August 27, 2026.
- Typical entry education: BLS Employment Projections, education and training assignments by occupation, 2025. FBI requirements and pay: USAJOBS, FBI special agent announcement.
- Handbook and postings read on October 7, 2026. The agencies and statutes behind the table are cited on each job’s page.