Private Detectives Salaries, Locations, and Schools

Employment Overview

Private detectives nationally number 52,000. The unemployment level for workers is high, compared to other occupations. About 5% of employees were unemployed recently.

Flexibility

In 30% of the cases, private detectives work for themselves. About 11% of workers work less than full-time.

Education

Employees are generally expected to have work experience in a related occupation. About 52% of private detectives hold a bachelor's degree or better. Currently 30% of workers have some college education, though not a degree. About 18% of employees were able to get their jobs with a high-school diploma.

Local Outlook

Private detectives are relatively common in Youngstown (Ohio), Jacksonville (Florida), and Brockton (Massachusetts). They are rarer in Baton Rouge (Louisiana), Tucson (Arizona), and Nashville (Tennessee). Workers are paid highest in Oakland (California), Bridgeport (Connecticut), and Newark (New Jersey), and lowest in Greenville (South Carolina), Lexington (Kentucky), and Jacksonville (Florida).

Detailed local employment conditions for Private Detectives in metro areas across the US are shown in the table below.

Local Jobs Info for Private Detectives

Employment info for Private Detectives, by metropolitan area (for 2006). A Market Strength rating of 1.0 means the city (and surroundings) has an average number of workers in the occupation for to its population. A higher number indicates relatively more workers for the occupation in that location.

State	City and Surroundings	Market Strength	Workers	Median Wage
Alabama	Birmingham	2.13	210	$38,000
Arizona	Phoenix	0.98	360	$51,000
Arizona	Tucson	0.42	30	$33,000
Arkansas	Little Rock	0.8	50	$41,000
California	Fresno	1.45	90	$52,000
California	Los Angeles	1.23	990	$50,000
California	Oakland	1.42	280	$65,000
California	Redding	3.46	40	$51,000
California	Riverside	3.09	780	$47,000
California	Sacramento	2.37	410	$45,000
California	San Francisco	3.83	720	$55,000
California	Santa Ana	1.27	380	$59,000
Colorado	Colorado Springs	0.84	40	$38,000
Colorado	Denver	1.55	370	$42,000
Connecticut	Bridgeport	1.44	120	$52,000
Connecticut	Hartford	0.74	80	$40,000
Connecticut	New Haven	0.77	40	$52,000
Delaware	Wilmington	0.65	40	$49,000
Florida	Cape Coral	2.75	110	$43,000
Florida	Deltona	1.03	30	$39,000
Florida	Fort Lauderdale	2.09	300	$43,000
Florida	Jacksonville	4.71	550	$23,000
Florida	Lakeland	2.17	80	$38,000
Florida	Miami	1.92	370	$43,000
Florida	Orlando	2	410	$35,000
Florida	Sarasota	1.89	100	$45,000
Florida	Tallahassee	2.33	70	$36,000
Florida	Tampa	2.03	490	$39,000
Florida	West Palm Beach	1.11	120	$37,000
Georgia	Atlanta	1.64	760	$39,000
Indiana	Indianapolis	0.82	140	$43,000
Iowa	Des Moines	1.16	70	$38,000
Kentucky	Lexington	0.88	40	$34,000
Louisiana	Baton Rouge	0.44	30	$31,000
Louisiana	Lafayette	1.21	30	$37,000
Louisiana	New Orleans	1.16	110	$31,000
Maryland	Baltimore	4	990	$40,000
Massachusetts	Brockton	4.56	70	$34,000
Michigan	Ann Arbor	1.91	60	$40,000
Michigan	Detroit	3.03	430	$43,000
Michigan	Kalamazoo	1.56	40	$39,000
Michigan	Lansing	1.35	50	$41,000
Michigan	Warren	1.2	270	$55,000
Minnesota	Duluth	2.19	50
Minnesota	Minneapolis	1.46	510	$38,000
Missouri	Kansas City	3.02	590	$37,000
Missouri	St Louis	1.11	290	$49,000
Nevada	Las Vegas	0.89	160	$44,000
New Jersey	Newark	2.17	420	$59,000
New Mexico	Albuquerque	1.78	130	$42,000
New York	Buffalo	1.87	190	$34,000
New York	Nassau	1.42	340	$42,000
New York	New York	0.99	960	$53,000
New York	Poughkeepsie	0.89	40	$38,000
North Carolina	Hickory	1.31	40	$30,000
North Carolina	Raleigh	3.45	330	$35,000
Ohio	Cincinnati	1.16	230	$34,000
Ohio	Cleveland	0.88	180	$44,000
Ohio	Columbus	0.57	100	$42,000
Ohio	Dayton	3.35	250	$33,000
Ohio	Youngstown	6.76	300	$40,000
Oregon	Portland	0.8	160	$41,000
Pennsylvania	Erie	3	70	$48,000
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	3.43	1,230	$35,000
Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh	3.01	660	$36,000
Pennsylvania	Scranton	2.47	120	$40,000
Rhode Island	Providence	0.72	80	$41,000
South Carolina	Charleston	0.74	40	$34,000
South Carolina	Columbia	0.92	60	$39,000
South Carolina	Greenville	0.52	30	$31,000
Tennessee	Knoxville	3.85	240
Tennessee	Memphis	0.83	100	$40,000
Tennessee	Nashville	0.27	40	$34,000
Texas	Austin	3.93	560	$44,000
Texas	Beaumont	1.05	30
Texas	Corpus Christi	2.23	70
Texas	Dallas	1.38	550	$48,000
Texas	El Paso	2.09	100	$32,000
Texas	Fort Worth	1.01	160	$44,000
Texas	Houston	0.81	390	$42,000
Texas	San Antonio	2.31	360	$46,000
Utah	Salt Lake City	0.78	90	$40,000
Washington	Seattle	0.98	270	$47,000
Washington	Spokane	2.08	80
Wisconsin	Madison	2.44	150	$43,000