Compliance Officers
US occupation · SOC 13-1041
Job titles people report: Driver Examiner, Driver License Agent, Driver License Examiner, Examiner, License Examiner, License Registration Examiner, Licensing Analyst, Motor Vehicle Clerk, Public Service Representative (PSR), Transportation Services Representative (TSR)
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $80,730
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $61,280 – $109,010
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 417,070
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +3.8%
- At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 32,700
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Examine, evaluate, and investigate eligibility for or conformity with laws and regulations governing contract compliance of licenses and permits, and perform other compliance and enforcement inspection and analysis activities not classified elsewhere.
Main tasks
- Warn violators of infractions or penalties.
- Evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues.
- Advise licensees or other individuals or groups concerning licensing, permit, or passport regulations.
- Prepare reports of activities, evaluations, recommendations, or decisions.
- Report law or regulation violations to appropriate boards or agencies.
- Confer with or interview officials, technical or professional specialists, or applicants to obtain information or to clarify facts relevant to licensing decisions.
More specific O*NET® occupations under this one: Coroners, Customs Brokers, Environmental Compliance Inspectors, Equal Opportunity Representatives and Officers, Government Property Inspectors and Investigators, Regulatory Affairs Specialists.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Bachelor's degree
- Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 4
- Considerable preparation
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 11 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Business
- Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
- Labor and Industrial Relations
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.
Where many students take business
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 35% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 28% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempe, AZ · 26% of degrees · 64,674 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 22% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · 25% of degrees · 49,664 undergraduates
- University of the PeoplePasadena, CA · 53% of degrees · 22,688 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Health & Nursing
- Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician
- Regulatory Science/Affairs
- Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Health & Nursing at the Major step.
Where many students take health & nursing
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 26% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 33% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 8% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- The University of Texas at ArlingtonArlington, TX · 36% of degrees · 32,294 undergraduates
- University of Central FloridaOrlando, FL · 13% of degrees · 59,146 undergraduates
- University of South FloridaTampa, FL · 17% of degrees · 37,207 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Environmental Studies
- Environmental Studies
- Environmental Science
- Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
- Energy and Environmental Policy
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Environmental Studies at the Major step.
Where many students take environmental studies
- Unity Environmental UniversityNew Gloucester, ME · 39% of degrees · 6,483 undergraduates
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 2% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- Oregon State UniversityCorvallis, OR · 7% of degrees · 30,743 undergraduates
- University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, CA · 5% of degrees · 33,068 undergraduates
- University of VermontBurlington, VT · 13% of degrees · 11,743 undergraduates
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens PointStevens Point, WI · 19% of degrees · 7,306 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Criminal Justice
- Suspension and Debarment Investigation
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Criminal Justice at the Major step.
Where many students take criminal justice
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 6% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- CUNY John Jay College of Criminal JusticeNew York, NY · 46% of degrees · 11,590 undergraduates
- Sam Houston State UniversityHuntsville, TX · 20% of degrees · 17,743 undergraduates
- Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA · 6% of degrees · 50,012 undergraduates
- University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · 6% of degrees · 49,664 undergraduates
- The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyEdinburg, TX · 9% of degrees · 28,666 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Other fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
- Environmental Geosciences
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs
$54,210 median · +1.6% projected
- Paralegals and Legal Assistants
$62,890 median · -0.3% projected
- Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
$78,000 median · -5.5% projected
- Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers
$117,860 median · 0% projected
- Management Analysts
$101,860 median · +10.1% projected
- Private Detectives and Investigators
$51,220 median · +5.5% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk