What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called alarm investigator, aml investigator, anti money laundering investigator and background investigator.
$51,220
Median pay a year
35,580
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Private Detective and Investigator resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Investigating personal characteristics
Investigating organizational crimes
Examining records or other types
Using databases
Observing individuals' activities
Interviewing people
Balancing receipts
Preparing incident reports
Recording crime scene evidence
Testifying at legal proceedings
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Private Detective and Investigator
Summary
Private detective gathering and analyzing information on individuals or organizations, conducting background investigations, and compiling reports to support clients in legal matters or uncover unlawful activities
Experience
Private Detective and Investigator
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Wrote reports or case summaries to document investigations
Searched computer databases, credit reports, and public records to locate persons or compile information
Conducted personal background investigations, such as pre-employment checks, to obtain information about individuals
Obtained and analyzed information on suspects and crimes to solve cases or gather information for court
Testified at hearings or court trials to present evidence
Questioned persons to obtain evidence for cases of divorce, child custody, or missing persons
Skills
Core Skills
Investigating personal characteristics, Investigating organizational crimes, Examining records or other types, Using databases, Observing individuals' activities, Interviewing people, Balancing receipts, Testifying at legal proceedings
Technical Skills
Preparing incident reports, Recording crime scene evidence
Open to
On site, Remote
Education
Certificate Your training program, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
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What to put on a Private Detective and Investigator resume
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What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Wrote reports to document investigationsConducted private investigations on a paid basisSearched databases and public records for informationConducted personal background investigations for clientsTestified at court trials to present evidenceObserved activities to detect unlawful acts
becomes
On your resume
Wrote detailed reports to document findings from investigations
Searched databases and public records to gather relevant information for cases
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Show what improved once the reports were written
The line
Wrote detailed reports that helped clients better understand case details from investigations
Show what improved once the reports were written
Pick one that fits
Helped clients understand case details betterInformed legal teams for stronger casesClarified findings for client decision-making
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Add how often you searched these records
The line
Searched databases and public records to gather relevant information for cases
Add how often you searched these records
Pick one that fits
Daily for multiple ongoing casesSeveral times a week for urgent needsRegularly for various client requests
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Private Detective and Investigator does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Gather, analyze, compile, and report information regarding individuals or organizations to clients, or detect occurrences of unlawful acts or infractions of rules in private establishment.
What it pays
How much does a Private Detective and Investigator make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$40,700
Median
$51,220
75th percentile
$73,990
About 35,580 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AK
$42,780
$53,440
$71,240
AL
$37,740
$46,810
$52,610
AR
$37,970
$47,750
$69,990
AZ
$41,450
$61,030
$79,790
CA
$45,380
$61,250
$82,110
CO
$44,150
$48,730
$67,800
CT
$42,130
$75,010
$83,320
DC
$46,330
$72,720
$107,920
DE
$47,520
$55,710
$67,800
FL
$38,120
$50,640
$64,080
GA
$38,650
$45,060
$59,950
HI
$43,790
$45,750
$66,350
IA
$38,380
$41,110
$54,680
ID
$44,530
$47,910
$65,350
IL
$44,380
$60,210
$79,140
IN
$37,990
$41,830
$53,590
KS
$36,900
$45,260
$60,610
KY
$40,220
$47,650
$56,080
LA
$36,750
$41,950
$52,930
MA
$42,540
$50,240
$94,660
ME
$39,580
$43,830
$54,070
MI
$38,410
$48,650
$61,590
MN
$45,930
$57,880
$83,670
MO
$37,480
$41,600
$51,880
MS
$36,210
$39,060
$52,360
MT
$42,640
$47,430
$55,040
NC
$41,000
$52,890
$74,900
ND
$39,840
$44,310
$50,440
NE
$42,800
$51,750
$76,000
NH
$46,970
$65,370
$78,300
NJ
$42,890
$54,710
$91,990
NM
$36,900
$41,600
$64,280
NY
$45,970
$59,140
$80,910
OH
$41,600
$47,200
$70,910
OK
$37,110
$39,680
$58,430
OR
$55,660
$76,480
$92,390
PA
$44,840
$51,200
$71,830
PR
$21,840
$42,190
$45,900
RI
$39,830
$54,620
$79,140
SC
$40,140
$51,530
$73,430
SD
$40,860
$44,840
$48,550
TN
$38,520
$49,360
$99,170
TX
$36,810
$51,810
$72,660
UT
$48,460
$57,910
$61,090
VA
$41,200
$56,160
$76,680
VT
$44,640
$67,910
$76,960
WA
$46,580
$64,080
$84,700
WI
$38,580
$41,850
$58,210
WV
$37,060
$46,410
$60,740
WY
$42,800
$54,310
$74,240
Other names
Other names for this job
alarm investigator, aml investigator, anti money laundering investigator, background investigator, bank secrecy act investigator, bsa investigator, case investigator, cash shortage investigator, certified legal investigator, contract investigator, detective investigator, employee relations investigator.
More names for this work
field investigator, fraud investigator, investigator, licensed private investigator, loss prevention investigator, principal investigator, private investigator, shopping investigator, special investigator, surveillance investigator, asset protection detective, bonding agent, detective, district agent, house detective, house officer, intelligence agent, investigations assistant, loss prevention agent, loss prevention analyst, loss prevention associate, loss prevention detective, loss prevention officer, post market surveillance specialist, private detective, private eye, protection specialist, security analyst, security consultant, skip locator, skip tracer, store detective, surveillance agent, surveillance manager, surveillance officer, surveillance operator, undercover agent, undercover operator.
If you served
Military jobs this work counts as
From the crosswalk the US Department of Labor publishes itself. If one of these was your job, this page is about the civilian work it maps to.
Starting a Private Detective and Investigator resume with no experience
Below are the tasks a Private Detective and Investigator job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
Private Detective and Investigator
Already yours: Investigating personal characteristics, Investigating organizational crimes, Examining records or other types
4 of the 10 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$51,220 a year
What you have not done yet. Observing individuals' activities, Interviewing people, Preparing incident reports
Great news! Your skills can open up even more doors.
The tasks for Private Detective and Investigator also qualify you for the jobs below. Creating a resume for one of these could help you land even more interviews.
Choose a job below that you would like to target next:
Detective and Criminal Investigator
Already yours: Examining records or other types, Using databases
2 of the 26 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$93,790 a year
What you have not done yet. Examining crime scenes, Maintaining surveillance, Requesting emergency personnel
This page is about the occupation Private Detectives and Investigators. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.