Undercover agent vs investigation officer

The differences between undercover agents and investigation officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an undercover agent and an investigation officer. Additionally, an undercover agent has an average salary of $67,706, which is higher than the $66,489 average annual salary of an investigation officer.

The top three skills for an undercover agent include law enforcement agencies, and . The most important skills for an investigation officer are criminal justice, patrol, and law enforcement agencies.

Undercover agent vs investigation officer overview

	Undercover Agent	Investigation Officer
Yearly salary	$67,706	$66,489
Hourly rate	$32.55	$31.97
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	82,478	67,540
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

Undercover agent vs investigation officer salary

Undercover agents and investigation officers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Undercover Agent	Investigation Officer
Average salary	$67,706	$66,489
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $125,000	Between $43,000 And $100,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between undercover agent and investigation officer education

There are a few differences between an undercover agent and an investigation officer in terms of educational background:

	Undercover Agent	Investigation Officer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	-

Undercover agent vs investigation officer demographics

Here are the differences between undercover agents' and investigation officers' demographics:

	Undercover Agent	Investigation Officer
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 64.0% Female, 36.0%	Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 2.9% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between undercover agent and investigation officer duties and responsibilities

Undercover agent example responsibilities.

Conduct joint planning and manage AFOSI's criminal investigations and counterintelligence operations in northern Italy.
Serve as ATF case agent and undercover agent on numerous firearms and narcotics trafficking cases.
Review all complete DEA integrity/misconduct investigations, shooting investigations, accidents with government vehicles and property loss or damage negligence/liability reports.
Review all complete DEA integrity/misconduct investigations, shooting investigations, accidents with government vehicles and property loss or damage negligence/liability reports.

Investigation officer example responsibilities.

Manage corporate-wide document production relative to complex litigation cases.
Screen entities against OFAC list to determine if enhance due diligence is required.
Serve active criminal warrants and subpoenas.
Patrol facility by foot and patrol vehicle.
Recover video evidence from CCTV surveillance systems.
Prepare, maintain and update OFAC block and rejection reports.

Undercover agent vs investigation officer skills

Common undercover agent skills

Law Enforcement Agencies, 100%

Common investigation officer skills

Criminal Justice, 13%
Patrol, 9%
Law Enforcement Agencies, 8%
Administrative Hearings, 6%
SAR, 5%
Food Safety, 5%

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Undercover Agent vs Investigation Officer

Updated January 8, 2025

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