What Salary Range Can a Computer Forensics Analyst Expect?

Computer forensics analysts receive training to fight crimes that range from online child pornography to hacking of personal or national computer systems or to help recover any files on computers that have been damaged or destroyed. Their salaries vary by gender, years of work experience, type of employer, city and state, and company.

Average Salary by Years of Experience and Gender

According to PayScale, a female computer forensics analyst's average annual salary falls between $40,000 to $75,000; a male analyst's average salary falls between $50,000 to $90,000 per year. The average starting annual salary with no industry experience is $46,000, increasing to $46,000 to $80,000 with one to four years of experience, $60,000 to $100,000 with five to nine years of experience and $80,000 to $120,000 with 10 to 19 years of experience.

Average Salary by Employer Type

Employer types include public and privately owned companies. There are also state, local and federal government employers. According to PayScale, federal employees and and employees of publically owned companies make salaries up to $100,000 per year. Privately owned companies pay an annual average salary of $90,000, while state and local government employees are paid $80,000 per year.

Average Salary by City

A survey by PayScale shows computer forensics analysts in Atlanta earning a median salary of $60,000 annually, while Washington has the highest paying salary at $120,000 per year among cities for all types of businesses.

Average Salary by State

PayScale's surveys show Virginia, Texas, Illinois, California and Massachusetts having the highest paid salaries for a computer forensics analyst. The highest annual salary for Virginia is $100,000, Texas is $90,000, Illinois is $110,000, California is $110,000, and Massachusetts is $90,000. These salaries are throughout the market for all types of businesses in these states.

Average Salary by Company Size

According to PayScale, the size of companies hiring a computer forensics analyst ranges between 200 and 199,999 employees, with the highest salaries paid by companies that have between 200 to 599 employees and 20,000 to 49,999 employees. The highest paid annual salaries were between $120,000 to $140,000.

Average Salary by Company Type

Computer forensics analysts work in multiple different specialty areas, including financial services, government and law enforcement. According to PayScale, the annual salary range for those in law enforcement is $40,000 to $75,000, financial services is $75,000 to $100,000 and government contractors is $50,000 to $110,000 per year.

References

• PayScale: Median Salary by Years of Experience
• PayScale: Median Salary by Industry
• Legal-Criminal-Justice-Schools.com on Computer Forensics

Resources

• Forensic Investigator
• GetDegrees: Career in Computer Forensics