Evidence technician vs forensic investigator

The differences between evidence technicians and forensic investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an evidence technician and a forensic investigator. Additionally, a forensic investigator has an average salary of $52,267, which is higher than the $44,213 average annual salary of an evidence technician.

The top three skills for an evidence technician include law enforcement agencies, criminal justice and data entry. The most important skills for a forensic investigator are incident response, windows, and FTK.

Evidence technician vs forensic investigator overview

	Evidence Technician	Forensic Investigator
Yearly salary	$44,213	$52,267
Hourly rate	$21.26	$25.13
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	5,316	5,032
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Evidence technician vs forensic investigator salary

Evidence technicians and forensic investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Evidence Technician	Forensic Investigator
Average salary	$44,213	$52,267
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $61,000	Between $27,000 And $98,000
Highest paying City	West Valley City, UT	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Federal Bureau of Investigation	-
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between evidence technician and forensic investigator education

There are a few differences between an evidence technician and a forensic investigator in terms of educational background:

	Evidence Technician	Forensic Investigator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	Stanford University	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Evidence technician vs forensic investigator demographics

Here are the differences between evidence technicians' and forensic investigators' demographics:

	Evidence Technician	Forensic Investigator
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between evidence technician and forensic investigator duties and responsibilities

Evidence technician example responsibilities.

Monitor the CCTV cameras, parking lot, and front entrance.
Use of LIMS to assign unique tracking case numbers to submit specimens.
Liaisoned and coordinate efforts with DIA, FBI, SAIC Intel, and military personnel.
Act as main liaison with the software development team for new LIMS features, as well as a mobile mass-disaster LIMS.
Increase customer satisfaction by validating a more sensitive extraction method which produce more informative results.
Perform liquid/liquid and liquid solid chemical extractions, following standard operating procedures.

Forensic investigator example responsibilities.

Receive multiple letters of commendation for effective investigations that lead to successful prosecutions.
Prepare investigative reports, scientific forensic analysis reports and other documents in support of civil litigation.
Perform in-depth forensic analysis of Macintosh computer hard drives and prepare expert report for use in ongoing litigation.
Prepare affidavits of information and apply for investigative or grand jury subpoenas and other legal orders necessary for a thorough investigation.
Present to schools, community organizations, and local corporations prevention techniques in a PowerPoint format.
Evaluate impressions for AFIS (automate fingerprint identification system) potential.

Evidence technician vs forensic investigator skills

Common evidence technician skills

Law Enforcement Agencies, 15%
Criminal Justice, 15%
Data Entry, 10%
Crime Lab, 8%
NCIC, 6%
Evidence Collection, 4%

Common forensic investigator skills

Incident Response, 17%
Windows, 12%
FTK, 11%
Litigation, 8%
Physical Evidence, 6%
Digital Evidence, 5%

Evidence Technician vs. similar jobs

Evidence Technician related careers

Evidence Technician related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Evidence Technician
Evidence Technician vs Forensic Investigator

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs