What Jobs and Salaries Can I Get With a Criminal Justice Degree?



Posted: Saturday, April 01, 2006

by Jim Greenberg
Jim Greenberg

The demand for qualified and efficient personnel in the field of criminal justice is on the rise. Depending on the level of your experience and education in any sphere that encompasses the basics and/or specifics of criminal justice, you will be eligible for jobs in federal agencies like the FBI, CIA, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), the Secret Service, Customs, DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), INS, and the Border Patrol, in state and local government agencies as state troopers, SBI agents, local law enforcement officers, arson specialists, serology and fingerprinting specialists, in the private sector as detectives, investigators and security specialists, in the corrections department as wardens, as juvenile and adult psychologists, and as corrections, parole, and probation officers, in the legal profession as lawyers, legal assistants and secretaries, paralegals, court administrators, judges, and magistrates, in military and defense agencies as military police officers and investigators, in the field of criminology as criminologists, crime scene investigators, and forensic scientists, in gaming surveillance as conservation officers, in colleges and universities as lecturers and professors, and in the field of cyber crime and white-collar crime detection and prevention.

The salary you earn in any of these jobs will be commensurate to your skills and position up the administrative ladder. Federal and urban salaries are usually the highest, but the nature of the work is often demanding and stressful. On an average, police officers and others in the law enforcement division can expect to earn around $45,470 annually. On entry into the ATF, DEA, IRS, INS, Secret Service and the US Marshals, you can probably earn around $25,000, with chances of climbing to $50,000 in less than 5 years of service. Newcomers to federal service can hope to earn between $39,115 and $48,890, those in non-supervisory positions can take home between $61,251 and $76,560, while supervisory, management, and executive positions pay between $90,480 and $106,430.

Criminologists are paid between $38,560 and $66,970, forensic scientists net $46,080, while forensic psychologists earn between $38,560 and $66,970.

As a security guard in the federal government, you can usually earn between $21,950 and $28,960, while gaming investigators and conservation officers take home salaries in the range of $18,080 to $25,950. Detectives in the private sector can make an average of $49, 860, while administrative positions in the field will earn you around $77,500. Store detectives and investigators make between $25,000 and $39,800.

If you are a part of the corrections department, you can probably earn between $34, 560 and $51, 390, with the higher salaries reserved for administrative officers.

Paralegals and legal secretaries can bring in salaries ranging from $37, 310 to $42, 510, while law office managers earn around $43,000 and court reporters make $39, 670. Mediators with a doctorate in criminal justice are on the high end of the salary scale with a take-home pay of $130,170.

In the pedagogy department, professors who teach graduate and undergraduate classes earn more than those who teach associate students. Professors can hope to earn $86,437, assistant professors $51,545, associate professors $61,732, instructors $37,737, and lecturers $43,914.

Jim Greenberg recommends you visit the Online Criminal Justice Degree Guide for more information on online criminal justice degree jobs and salaries. See http://www.ocjdg.com/2006/02/what_career_and.html for more information.
This Article has been viewed 68,270 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)
» left by Anonymous
3 years 188 days ago.
good info
» left by Anonymous
2 years 345 days ago.
Great info! Should have been graphed out on average, but overall very informative.
» left by luis
from bronx Ny
2 years 160 days ago.
yes very useful.. thanks so much for this info!
» left by johnny
from Lowell Ma
2 years 137 days ago.
very good info
» left by Anonymous 2 years 2 days ago.
very good info ty so much
» left by Elyas Taha
from Wheaton, IL
1 year 280 days ago.
so let's say i got an B.A./B.S. in Criminal Justice and i'm certified to write, read, and speak Arabic fluently. what kind of job in the law enforcement i can get except being a cop..?
» left by christine 1 year 277 days ago.
well i was researching the other day on the FBI site for jobs and stuff and i know i read something about them needing more people fluent in many languages. might wanna check out the site? if not the FBI, try CIA? a lot of government jobs probably need people with knowledge in other languages. hope i helped!
» left by marci 186 days 6 hours ago.
If you received a BA in criminal justice and can write read and speak arabic fluently, there are fbi special agents who are linguists and you'd fit the criteria.
» left by anthony douglas
from livingston texas
222 days 21 hours ago.
i have miltary background of * years and 3 years correctional officer experience and have my associates degree... I do not want to be a patrol officer for the sheriffs dept. but more into an office position for them or i want to go back into corrections but not as an officer, i just came off disability and need to find a career with an associates degree in Criminal Justice. any suggestions.. pleas email me.. thank you
» left by Ty
from Shelby
11 days 6 hours ago.
I am looking to get advice for careers with an A.A or B.A in Criminal Justice. I originally planned on going to law school after receiving my B.A in criminal justice but I got into an accident and my plans changed. So now I have an Associates in C.J. and will soon be starting classes to receive my B.A. I am not going to law school now. What jobs are available with a A.A.? I also thought about waiting until I got my B.A and looking into the FBI, but I am 38 years old now and I believe you have to be 35 or younger to qualify. I really don't want to be a police or corrections officer. I am looking for something more administrative. Can someone please advise as I am beginning to feel stuck. Feel free to email me and thanks much in advance?
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