Private investigator vs cop

The differences between private investigators and cops can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a cop has an average salary of $92,365, which is higher than the $48,019 average annual salary of a private investigator.

The top three skills for a private investigator include background checks, background investigations and video surveillance. The most important skills for a cop are situational awareness, control systems, and gccs.

Private investigator vs cop overview

	Private Investigator	Cop
Yearly salary	$48,019	$92,365
Hourly rate	$23.09	$44.41
Growth rate	6%	3%
Number of jobs	6,675	1,470
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	44	40
Years of experience	6	-

Private investigator vs cop salary

Private investigators and cops have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Private Investigator	Cop
Average salary	$48,019	$92,365
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $78,000	Between $60,000 And $141,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between private investigator and cop education

There are a few differences between a private investigator and a cop in terms of educational background:

	Private Investigator	Cop
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Business
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	-

Private investigator vs cop demographics

Here are the differences between private investigators' and cops' demographics:

	Private Investigator	Cop
Average age	44	40
Gender ratio	Male, 73.1% Female, 26.9%	Male, 69.1% Female, 30.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.9% Asian, 4.6% White, 57.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 3.1% White, 60.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between private investigator and cop duties and responsibilities

Private investigator example responsibilities.

Manage all business reporting to include; payroll, taxes, client billing, account reconciliations and compliance reports.
Take ownership of the queue and promptly escalate any issues or obstacles to completing daily SAR filings
Conduct SIU, fraud, criminal, civil, and exploratory investigations as defined in client contracts.
Conduct different types of SIU investigations as well as civil, criminal, and asset background courthouse checks.
Serve subpoenas, coordinate witness court appearances, compile information from interviews, and developed/maintain community and informant contacts.
Create quality control documentation associate with manufacturing process, raw materials and quality testing procedures according to corporate and FDA guidelines.

Cop example responsibilities.

Complete VMWARE infrastructure course lead by certify VMWARE trainer, which cover all aspects of VMWARE installation and support.
Work with AIS systems administrators to maintain and upgrade Unix base servers and GCCS applications.
Assist POs to develop plans and tools relate to business and marketing opportunities.
Deploy to multiple MSCs worldwide to install and to train new users on the proper use of C2PC.
Configure servers base video matrix switches base on engineer specifications.
Provide build system support for release engineering teams which entail automated installations of Java build engines and Linux server system management.

Private investigator vs cop skills

Common private investigator skills

Background Checks, 15%
Background Investigations, 12%
Video Surveillance, 12%
Subpoenas, 5%
Law Enforcement Agencies, 5%
Computer Database, 4%

Common cop skills

Situational Awareness, 32%
Control Systems, 29%
Gccs, 19%
Climate, 8%
Windows, 7%
Law Enforcement, 6%