Private Detectives and Investigators · SOC 33-9021

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Private Detectives and Investigatorss

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

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for private detectives and investigators. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (12 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 143 metro areas

Private Detectives and Investigators: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$99,680	310	0.5
2	Salem, OR	$81,070	180	1.0
3	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$78,330	270	0.2
4	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$77,540	150	0.3
5	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$76,630	50	0.3
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,670	430	0.2
7	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$73,430	860	0.6
8	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$70,780	100	0.5
9	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$70,220	410	0.2
10	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$70,190	50	0.4
11	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$70,150	430	0.2
12	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$68,310	970	0.2
13	New Haven, CT	$65,030	70	0.3
14	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$64,400	610	0.3
15	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$64,080	60	0.1
16	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$64,060	190	0.2
17	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$63,940	30	0.2
18	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$62,520	40	0.2
19	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$62,300	790	0.3
20	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$61,680	1,520	0.2
21	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$61,460	1,070	0.3
22	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$61,460	90	0.3
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$60,910	230	0.1
24	Corpus Christi, TX	$60,090	40	0.2
25	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$59,770	80	0.2

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Private Detectives and 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.