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Forensic Science Technicians

US occupation · SOC 19-4092

Job titles people report: Crime Lab Analyst (Crime Laboratory Analyst), Crime Scene Analyst (CSA), Crime Scene Technician (Crime Scene Tech), Criminalist, CSI (Crime Scene Investigator), Evidence Technician (Evidence Tech), Forensic Science Examiner, Forensic Scientist, Forensic Specialist, Latent Print Examiner

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$72,060
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$57,830 – $94,520
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
19,120
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+13.3%
Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)
Openings a year (projected)
2,800
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

Collect, identify, classify, and analyze physical evidence related to criminal investigations. Perform tests on weapons or substances, such as fiber, hair, and tissue to determine significance to investigation. May testify as expert witnesses on evidence or crime laboratory techniques. May serve as specialists in area of expertise, such as ballistics, fingerprinting, handwriting, or biochemistry.

Main tasks

  • Collect evidence from crime scenes, storing it in conditions that preserve its integrity.
  • Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques.
  • Use photographic or video equipment to document evidence or crime scenes.
  • Testify in court about investigative or analytical methods or findings.
  • Use chemicals or other substances to examine latent fingerprint evidence and compare developed prints to those of known persons in databases.
  • Measure and sketch crime scenes to document evidence.
  • Visit morgues, examine scenes of crimes, or contact other sources to obtain evidence or information to be used in investigations.
  • Train new technicians or other personnel on forensic science techniques.

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 3
Medium preparation
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 7 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.

Biology & Life Sciences

  • Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Biology & Life Sciences at the Major step.

Where many students take biology & life sciences

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.

Social Sciences

  • Forensic Anthropology

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Social Sciences at the Major step.

Where many students take social sciences

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.

Physics & Chemistry

  • Chemistry, General
  • Forensic Chemistry

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Physics & Chemistry at the Major step.

Where many students take physics & chemistry

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

  • Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
  • Criminalistics and Criminal Science
  • Forensic Science and Technology

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Criminal Justice at the Major step.

Where many students take criminal justice

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.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

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