Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between certified legal investigators and criminal investigative agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a certified legal investigator, becoming a criminal investigative agent takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a criminal investigative agent has an average salary of $56,775, which is higher than the $49,535 average annual salary of a certified legal investigator.
The top three skills for a certified legal investigator include law enforcement agencies, federal agencies and incident management. The most important skills for a criminal investigative agent are physical evidence, law enforcement agencies, and surveillance operations.
| Certified Legal Investigator | Criminal Investigative Agent | |
| Yearly salary | $49,535 | $56,775 |
| Hourly rate | $23.81 | $27.30 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 43,351 | 25,834 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
Certified legal investigators and criminal investigative agents have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Certified Legal Investigator | Criminal Investigative Agent | |
| Average salary | $49,535 | $56,775 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $89,000 | Between $38,000 And $83,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | - |
| Highest paying state | - | - |
| Best paying company | - | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a certified legal investigator and a criminal investigative agent in terms of educational background:
| Certified Legal Investigator | Criminal Investigative Agent | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Criminal Justice |
| Most common college | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | - |
Here are the differences between certified legal investigators' and criminal investigative agents' demographics:
| Certified Legal Investigator | Criminal Investigative Agent | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.2% Female, 61.8% | Male, 79.0% Female, 21.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 15.1% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 4.8% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 9% |