Detectives and Criminal Investigators · SOC 33-3021

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Detectives and Criminal Investigatorss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for detectives and criminal investigators. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 288 metro areas

Detectives and Criminal Investigators: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$158,640	280	0.2
2	Brunswick-St. Simons, GA	$158,060	240	5.1
3	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$156,750	4,830	1.5
4	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$153,570	70	0.2
5	Urban Honolulu, HI	$140,750	350	0.8
6	Great Falls, MT	$136,120	40	1.0
7	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$133,100	60	0.3
8	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$130,810	40	0.2
9	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$128,440	490	0.4
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$127,890	3,240	0.5
11	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$127,420	1,510	0.9
12	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$126,700	690	0.3
13	Anchorage, AK	$125,240	90	0.5
14	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$124,840	2,990	1.9
15	El Centro, CA	$123,970	770	11.8
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$123,820	740	0.4
17	Bellingham, WA	$122,840	260	2.9
18	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$121,100	50	0.6
19	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$119,350	310	0.3
20	Roanoke, VA	$114,050	130	0.8
21	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$113,360	90	0.3
22	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$113,340	1,230	0.8
23	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$111,860	270	1.0
24	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$111,530	100	0.8
25	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$110,760	60	0.4

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Detectives and Criminal Investigators overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.