Crime scene technicians are better known as forensic science technicians or crime scene investigators. As part of law enforcement personnel, they investigate crimes by applying a wide range of scientific methods to analyze the physical evidence they collect from crime scenes. How much crime scene technicians make is dependent on a number of factors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unit of the U.S. Department of Labor that specializes in labor economics and statistics.
National Income
According to the BLS, crime scene technicians had a mean annual income of around $55,000 in 2009. The median annual income was around $51,000, with the bottom 10 percent making around $32,000 and the top 10 percent making around $84,000.
Income by State
Massachusetts was the highest-paying state for crime scene technicians in 2009 with a mean annual income of around $82,000, according to the BLS. Rounding up the top five were Wisconsin at second ($79,000), Kansas at third ($73,000) and Illinois at fifth ($68,000), with the District of Columbia in fourth place ($70,000). D.C. also bore the distinction of being the district/state with the highest concentration of crime scene technicians. Arizona, Florida, Maryland and New Mexico, the states, in descending order, that completed the top five state concentration list, occupied a salary range between the mid-$40,000s and high $50,000s.
Income by Metropolitan Area
According to the BLS, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which encompasses parts of Virginia, Maryland and the federal district, had the highest mean annual income for crime scene technicians in 2009 at around $78,000. However, California, which did not make it onto the top five state list, occupied the next four highest metropolitan area spots with the Oakland/Fremont/Hayward, San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, Santa Ana/Anaheim/Irvine and Los Angeles/-Long Beach/Glendale areas. Together, they had a $70,000 to $77,000 income range.
Income by Workplace
The BLS reports that more than 90 percent of crime scene technicians worked for law enforcement at the state and local level in 2009, where they made mean annual incomes within the $53,000 to $55,000 range. However, another major employer, the federal executive branch, had the highest wages with salaries around $92,000.
Income Outlook
Crime scene technician income rose by 0.7 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to the BLS. If the number of jobs for crime scene technicians swells by a much-faster-than-average rate of 20 percent between 2008 and 2018 according to the agency's predictions, that might provide justification for a similar rise in their incomes as well.
Tags: scene technicians, annual income, crime scene, crime scene, crime scene technicians, mean annual
