Also called: Computer Forensics Analyst, Cyber Crime Investigator
Recovers and analyzes evidence from phones, computers, and cloud accounts for police, courts, and companies.
You extract deleted messages from a suspect's phone, document every step so it holds up in court, and later testify about what you found. Some examiners work for police; others for law firms.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in digital forensics or CS; certifications like GCFE or EnCE.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification, Military. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Digital Forensics, Criminal Justice, Computer Science.
Growing faster than average. Steady demand in law enforcement and corporate investigations.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI tools sort huge piles of phone and computer evidence fast; testifying in court and chain of custody stay human.
Classes: AP Computer Science Principles, Forensic science, Law or government.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1212.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.