Crime scene specialist vs ballistic technician

The differences between crime scene specialists and ballistic technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a crime scene specialist and a ballistic technician. Additionally, a crime scene specialist has an average salary of $58,467, which is higher than the $54,313 average annual salary of a ballistic technician.

The top three skills for a crime scene specialist include physical evidence, evidence collection and patrol. The most important skills for a ballistic technician are ammunition, ATF, and .

Crime scene specialist vs ballistic technician overview

	Crime Scene Specialist	Ballistic Technician
Yearly salary	$58,467	$54,313
Hourly rate	$28.11	$26.11
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	283	5,513
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Associate Degree, 50%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Crime scene specialist vs ballistic technician salary

Crime scene specialists and ballistic technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Crime Scene Specialist	Ballistic Technician
Average salary	$58,467	$54,313
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $92,000	Between $28,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between crime scene specialist and ballistic technician education

There are a few differences between a crime scene specialist and a ballistic technician in terms of educational background:

	Crime Scene Specialist	Ballistic Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Associate Degree, 50%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	California State University - Long Beach

Crime scene specialist vs ballistic technician demographics

Here are the differences between crime scene specialists' and ballistic technicians' demographics:

	Crime Scene Specialist	Ballistic Technician
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 45.8% Female, 54.2%	Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 8.5% White, 58.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 11.4% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between crime scene specialist and ballistic technician duties and responsibilities

Crime scene specialist example responsibilities.

Manage customer information in customer management systems CIV.
Collect evidence using various collection and detection methods including photography, ALS and chemical processing.
Serve as firstresponder for accidents and disasters, applying cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other life- saving procedures as needed.

Ballistic technician example responsibilities.

Assist in managing technical and regulatory site visits to the laboratory and interface with QA and RA on all vendor/regulatory audits.
Conduct ballistic tests for customers, domestic and foreign, seeking NIJ certification or research.
Evaluate current lab practices and independent initialization of startup procedures for new lab practices and lab organization for ISO accreditation.
Install blast sleeves, positive and negative EB switches w/ retaining nuts and top sub head assembly.
Check SID numbers in RAS system.

Crime scene specialist vs ballistic technician skills

Common crime scene specialist skills

Physical Evidence, 46%
Evidence Collection, 13%
Patrol, 12%
Latent Prints, 5%
Diagramming, 5%
Law Enforcement Agencies, 4%

Common ballistic technician skills

Ammunition, 58%
ATF, 42%

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Crime Scene Specialist
Crime Scene Specialist vs Ballistic Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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