how much does an investigator make a year
Average Pay and Pay Range. As of 2012, criminal investigators employed in the U.S. earned an average of $77,860 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a significant pay increase from work as a patrol officer, a position with an average salary of $57,770 as of 2012. The median-earning half of criminal detectives in the U.S. made between $52,320 and $98,940 per year, while the highest-paid 10 percent brought home $122,990 or more.