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The differences between inspectors and detectives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a detective has an average salary of $57,984, which is higher than the $38,757 average annual salary of an inspector.
The top three skills for an inspector include sketch, good communication and magnetic particle. The most important skills for a detective are physical evidence, patrol, and law enforcement agencies.
| Inspector | Detective | |
| Yearly salary | $38,757 | $57,984 |
| Hourly rate | $18.63 | $27.88 |
| Growth rate | -3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 17,670 | 56,521 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
An inspector is responsible for overseeing the overall condition of the site, ensuring that it complies with the safety standards and regulations. Inspectors' duties include monitoring the quality of the materials used, inspecting any defects and discrepancies that might compromise the operations, generating reports to assess the product costing if it meets the budget goals, and utilizing available resources in the market for the highest quality project. An inspector must have excellent decision-making and critical-thinking skills to perform comprehensive actions on risk management and service delivery.
A detective is responsible for conducting in-depth investigations for criminal activities, potential threats, and other law-violating incidents, coordinating closely with law-enforcement agencies and crime intelligence analysts. Detectives often work on the field, gathering data and related evidence to support claims and connect the timeline of events. They keep an organized record of their findings for further validation before reporting it to the authority. A detective must have excellent investigative and critical-thinking skills, especially on solving puzzles and security solutions.
Inspectors and detectives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Inspector | Detective | |
| Average salary | $38,757 | $57,984 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $54,000 | Between $35,000 And $95,000 |
| Highest paying City | Vancouver, WA | - |
| Highest paying state | Louisiana | - |
| Best paying company | Los Alamos National Laboratory | - |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | - |
There are a few differences between an inspector and a detective in terms of educational background:
| Inspector | Detective | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Business | Criminal Justice |
| Most common college | - | University of Arizona |
Here are the differences between inspectors' and detectives' demographics:
| Inspector | Detective | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3% | Male, 82.7% Female, 17.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.1% White, 56.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 2.8% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 9% |