Criminal Investigation

What the Numbers Say About Criminal Investigation

1.9% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Criminal Investigation occupation (OPM code 1811): 43,968 people, headcount down -0.8% versus the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition.

The average salary for Criminal Investigation is $128,647 per year, placing it 17.1% above the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 1.9% from the prior period, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement. Average length of service in this role is 14 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

The Investigation Group family (code 18) groups Criminal Investigation together with 19 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Criminal Investigation postings should also review these sibling occupations, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Criminal Investigation makes up 20.7% of the 211,925 employees across the Investigation Group family, ranking #2 of 20 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the top half (75th percentile) of pay among Investigation Group occupations.