Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between investigators assistants and senior investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an investigators assistant and a senior investigator. Additionally, a senior investigator has an average salary of $61,240, which is higher than the $44,686 average annual salary of an investigators assistant.
The top three skills for an investigators assistant include background checks, physical evidence and law enforcement agencies. The most important skills for a senior investigator are senior level management, local law enforcement, and claims handling.
| Investigators Assistant | Senior Investigator | |
| Yearly salary | $44,686 | $61,240 |
| Hourly rate | $21.48 | $29.44 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 16,836 | 4,525 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
As the name entails, the job of an investigator's assistant is to perform office duties and field jobs to support investigations into criminal justice and criminal cases. Typical duties will include processing legal documents and reports such as subpoenas and complaints, collecting fingerprints, police reports, and background checks, and interviewing victims and witnesses. Additionally, as an investigator's assistant, you are responsible for reviewing criminal background checks and conducting research on new social trends. You will also be responsible for preparing payroll and delegating and coordinating multiple projects under a tight deadline.
As a senior investigator, you will be responsible for managing investigations for crimes, including corruption, organized crime, and fraud. You will work closely with the district attorney and law enforcement to investigate and solve these crimes. This role will require you to perform other additional duties, including collecting DNA samples from the crime scene, suspects and victims, organizing live training on risk, compliance, and ethics, and testifying in criminal and civil courts, civil service hearings, and ethics commission.
Investigators assistants and senior investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Investigators Assistant | Senior Investigator | |
| Average salary | $44,686 | $61,240 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $85,000 | Between $35,000 And $105,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Frederick, MD |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Massachusetts General Hospital | DLA Piper |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between an investigators assistant and a senior investigator in terms of educational background:
| Investigators Assistant | Senior Investigator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Criminal Justice |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between investigators assistants' and senior investigators' demographics:
| Investigators Assistant | Senior Investigator | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.8% Female, 64.2% | Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |