Criminalist vs ballistic technician

The differences between criminalists 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 criminalist and a ballistic technician. Additionally, a criminalist has an average salary of $68,152, which is higher than the $54,313 average annual salary of a ballistic technician.

The top three skills for a criminalist include physical evidence, laboratory reports and body fluids. The most important skills for a ballistic technician are ammunition, ATF, and .

Criminalist vs ballistic technician overview

	Criminalist	Ballistic Technician
Yearly salary	$68,152	$54,313
Hourly rate	$32.77	$26.11
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	14,872	5,513
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Associate Degree, 50%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Criminalist vs ballistic technician salary

Criminalists and ballistic technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Criminalist	Ballistic Technician
Average salary	$68,152	$54,313
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $127,000	Between $28,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	San Mateo, CA	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	City of Los Angeles	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between criminalist and ballistic technician education

There are a few differences between a criminalist and a ballistic technician in terms of educational background:

	Criminalist	Ballistic Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Associate Degree, 50%
Most common major	Chemistry	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	California State University - Long Beach

Criminalist vs ballistic technician demographics

Here are the differences between criminalists' and ballistic technicians' demographics:

	Criminalist	Ballistic Technician
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 35.9% Female, 64.1%	Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 10.4% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	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 criminalist and ballistic technician duties and responsibilities

Criminalist example responsibilities.

Perform bone processing and DNA extraction from human remains.
Perform restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and PCR analysis.
Perform preventive maintenance on GC instruments and maintain preventive maintenance records in binders and LIMS.
Analyze controlled and non-control drugs using FTIR, GC/MS, GC/FID, and HPLC methods.
Analyze samples for the presence or absence of control substances using GC-MS, FTIR, microscopy and other chemical tests.
Develop a computerize firearms inspection worksheet that provide a print inspection report and create a firearms database.

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.

Criminalist vs ballistic technician skills

Common criminalist skills

Physical Evidence, 18%
Laboratory Reports, 7%
Body Fluids, 7%
Quantitative Analysis, 5%
Perform DNA, 5%
Proficiency Testing, 4%

Common ballistic technician skills

Ammunition, 58%
ATF, 42%

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Criminalist vs Ballistic Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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