Getting a private investigator salary

The risks of a private investigator job

If you decided to become a private investigator then you should know what you are getting yourself into. A private investigator salary can be up to $100,000 but this job is not always pleasant and easy. Usually, private investigators have an irregular program and sometimes they work up to 24 hours per day. When you are following someone, you can’t afford to take a break. Yow will spend many nights in a car, with your hands on a digital camera, without having time to buy food or drink.

Even if this job is full of risks, this doesn’t mean that a private investigator doesn’t have an office. In fact, many times his job involves making phone calls and internet research. The private investigators that manage their own agency have other investigators working for them, while they spend their time finding clients and making contracts. But not every investigator can manage own agency. It requires many years of working with another agency getting a normal private investigator salary, unless you have a lot of upfront cash when starting out.

Sometimes you may get involved in a confrontation with a suspect. This is why many investigators have a license to carry guns. The possibility to be attacked makes this job a very stressing one, especially when you are hired as a bodyguard for somebody who has received death threats. These are moments when you might regret that you got involved in the PI scene, especially when you look at your meager private investigator salary.

It is not always that you are exposed to stress and risks. If you work for yourself you are able to select your clients, depending on their requests. If you don’t want to take on a client, you don’t have to. You can take the cushy surveillance jobs, rather then the risky bodyguard style jobs. But if you are working for a private investigator salary, you don’t have the luxury of picking your cases… they are given to you

The average salary

A private investigator salary is about $50 per hour of work (if you work for yourself). The salary varies, depending on the number of clients that come to you. The average salary is around $37,000 per year in United States. An expert private investigator can earn up to $100,000 per year (for an agency), while a beginner might earn as little as $20,000.

If you want to make some extra money, you should open your own private investigators agency. In order to do this, you should have the necessary experience to manage a team usually made up of beginners. You share your experience with newer private investigators and they will work almost as well as you would do it, but for a lower salary. The people who own their own agencies are usually the highest paid individuals in the private investigation game, but it comes with risks, and is not always easy to find clients, so keep that in mind.

Private Investigator Employment Options

Private Investigation and Surveillance Tips

Taking a Private Investigation Course

Private Investigator Tool

Buying private investigator equipment