Forensic investigator vs ballistic technician

The differences between forensic investigators 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 forensic investigator and a ballistic technician. Additionally, a ballistic technician has an average salary of $54,313, which is higher than the $52,267 average annual salary of a forensic investigator.

The top three skills for a forensic investigator include incident response, windows and FTK. The most important skills for a ballistic technician are ammunition, ATF, and .

Forensic investigator vs ballistic technician overview

	Forensic Investigator	Ballistic Technician
Yearly salary	$52,267	$54,313
Hourly rate	$25.13	$26.11
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	5,032	5,513
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Associate Degree, 50%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Forensic investigator vs ballistic technician salary

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

	Forensic Investigator	Ballistic Technician
Average salary	$52,267	$54,313
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $98,000	Between $28,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between forensic investigator and ballistic technician education

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

	Forensic Investigator	Ballistic Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Associate Degree, 50%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Business
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	California State University - Long Beach

Forensic investigator vs ballistic technician demographics

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

	Forensic Investigator	Ballistic Technician
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%	Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3%
Race ratio	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%	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 forensic investigator and ballistic technician duties and responsibilities

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.

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.

Forensic investigator vs ballistic technician skills

Common forensic investigator skills

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

Common ballistic technician skills

Ammunition, 58%
ATF, 42%

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Forensic Investigator vs Ballistic Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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