Crime scene specialist vs forensic science examiner

The differences between crime scene specialists and forensic science examiners 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 forensic science examiner. Additionally, a crime scene specialist has an average salary of $58,467, which is higher than the $55,410 average annual salary of a forensic science examiner.

Crime scene specialist vs forensic science examiner overview

	Crime Scene Specialist	Forensic Science Examiner
Yearly salary	$58,467	$55,410
Hourly rate	$28.11	$26.64
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	283	7,275
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Crime scene specialist vs forensic science examiner salary

Crime scene specialists and forensic science examiners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Crime Scene Specialist	Forensic Science Examiner
Average salary	$58,467	$55,410
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $92,000	Between $26,000 And $116,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between crime scene specialist and forensic science examiner education

There are a few differences between a crime scene specialist and a forensic science examiner in terms of educational background:

	Crime Scene Specialist	Forensic Science Examiner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	University of Pennsylvania

Crime scene specialist vs forensic science examiner demographics

Here are the differences between crime scene specialists' and forensic science examiners' demographics:

	Crime Scene Specialist	Forensic Science Examiner
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 45.8% Female, 54.2%	Male, 30.4% Female, 69.6%
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 forensic science examiner 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.

Forensic science examiner example responsibilities.

Examine firearms for the presence of blood and touch DNA.
Examine evidence hard drives and other media devices with FTK following chain-of-custody procedures for manual processing procedures.
Direct employees in the unit to switch among functions depending on the work counts within the IAFIS.

Crime scene specialist vs forensic science examiner skills

Common crime scene specialist skills

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

Common forensic science examiner skills

Crime Scene Specialist vs. similar jobs

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Crime Scene Specialist
Crime Scene Specialist vs Forensic Science Examiner

Updated January 8, 2025

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