Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a criminal justice degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to criminal justice, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a criminal justice degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 17 CIP 2020 programs in criminal justice to 19 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a criminal justice degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 19 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $76,210, ranging from $38,020 for Security Guards to $141,900 for Regulatory Affairs Managers. BLS typical entry-level education splits 11 at high school diploma or equivalent, 1 at associate's degree, 6 at bachelor's degree, 1 at doctoral or professional degree: 18 at or below a bachelor's degree and 1 above it. Forensic Science Technicians is projected to grow fastest at +13.3% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Regulatory Affairs Managers ($141,900), First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives ($106,040) and Financial Examiners ($94,160).
- Related occupations
- 19, from 17 CIP 2020 programs in criminal justice (a further 1 related occupation has no BLS or O*NET row on this site and are not listed)
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- High school diploma or equivalent: 11; Associate's degree: 1; Bachelor's degree: 6; Doctoral or professional degree: 1
- Median wage across these occupations
- $76,210 (2025); 19 of 19 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 8 of the 19 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a criminal justice degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 19 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 19 of 19 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Regulatory Affairs Managers SOC 11-9199 Contact with others 4.2 · Time pressure 3.6 · Sitting 4.6 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $141,900 2025 median | +4.9% 2025-35 · 100.9 openings/yr |
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives SOC 33-1012 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 3.5 · Outdoors, all weather 4.3 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $106,040 2025 median | +3.3% 2025-35 · 10.6 openings/yr |
Financial Examiners SOC 13-2061 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 3.6 · Sitting 4.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.0 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $94,160 2025 median | +9.3% 2025-35 · 4.5 openings/yr |
Detectives and Criminal Investigators SOC 33-3021 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.5 · Outdoors, all weather 4.1 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $93,790 2025 median | +0.2% 2025-35 · 7.8 openings/yr |
Emergency Management Directors SOC 11-9161 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 3.7 · Outdoors, all weather 2.9 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $93,330 2025 median | +3.9% 2025-35 · 1.1 openings/yr |
Transit and Railroad Police SOC 33-3052 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.0 · Outdoors, all weather 4.7 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $90,230 2025 median | +3.2% 2025-35 · 0.3 openings/yr |
Compliance Officers SOC 13-1041 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 3.8 · Outdoors, all weather 3.5 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $80,730 2025 median | +3.8% 2025-35 · 32.7 openings/yr |
First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers SOC 33-1011 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 4.2 · Sitting 2.6 · Outdoors, all weather 3.6 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $77,970 2025 median | -2.5% 2025-35 · 3.7 openings/yr |
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1111 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 3.7 · Sitting 3.3 · Outdoors, all weather 1.5 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $76,590 2025 median | +1.5% 2025-35 · 1.1 openings/yr |
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers SOC 33-3051 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 4.0 · Sitting 3.5 · Outdoors, all weather 4.6 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $76,210 2025 median | +3.5% 2025-35 · 51.5 openings/yr |
Forensic Science Technicians SOC 19-4092 Contact with others 4.2 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 3.1 · Outdoors, all weather 3.9 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $72,060 2025 median | +13.3% 2025-35 · 2.8 openings/yr |
Quality Control Analysts SOC 19-4099 Contact with others 4.0 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 2.4 · Outdoors, all weather 2.1 of 5 | Associate's degree At or below bachelor's | $62,280 2025 median | +4.4% 2025-35 · 11.2 openings/yr |
Child, Family, and School Social Workers SOC 21-1021 Contact with others 5.0 · Time pressure 4.3 · Sitting 3.5 · Outdoors, all weather 2.8 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $59,550 2025 median | +4.4% 2025-35 · 33.9 openings/yr |
Correctional Officers and Jailers SOC 33-3012 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 4.5 · Sitting 3.3 · Outdoors, all weather 2.9 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $58,940 2025 median | -7.4% 2025-35 · 28.4 openings/yr |
Bailiffs SOC 33-3011 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 3.2 · Sitting 2.9 · Outdoors, all weather 2.1 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $56,600 2025 median | -1.9% 2025-35 · 1.6 openings/yr |
First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers SOC 33-1091 Contact with others 5.0 · Time pressure 3.4 · Sitting 3.0 · Outdoors, all weather 3.7 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $55,940 2025 median | +3.7% 2025-35 · 6.8 openings/yr |
Private Detectives and Investigators SOC 33-9021 Contact with others 4.3 · Time pressure 4.3 · Sitting 4.2 · Outdoors, all weather 2.7 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $51,220 2025 median | +5.5% 2025-35 · 3.2 openings/yr |
Gambling Surveillance Officers and Gambling Investigators SOC 33-9031 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.1 · Sitting 4.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.6 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $43,370 2025 median | -1.8% 2025-35 · 1.1 openings/yr |
Security Guards SOC 33-9032 Contact with others 4.9 · Time pressure 3.0 · Sitting 3.2 · Outdoors, all weather 3.3 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $38,020 2025 median | +0.9% 2025-35 · 156 openings/yr |
The crosswalk relates 1 further occupation to this field (33-1099) for which BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 publishes no line item on this site. They are counted here rather than listed, because there would be nothing to show beside the name.
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
18 of the 19 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 1 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- High school diploma or equivalent
- 11
- Associate's degree
- 1
- Bachelor's degree
- 6
- Doctoral or professional degree
- 1
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Criminal justice” groups 17 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 43.0100 Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
- 43.0102 Corrections
- 43.0103 Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
- 43.0104 Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
- 43.0107 Criminal Justice/Police Science
- 43.0109 Security and Loss Prevention Services
- 43.0110 Juvenile Corrections
- 43.0112 Securities Services Administration/Management
- 43.0113 Corrections Administration
- 43.0114 Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing
- 43.0115 Law Enforcement Record-Keeping and Evidence Management
- 43.0119 Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations
- 43.0120 Protective Services Operations
- 43.0121 Suspension and Debarment Investigation
- 43.0122 Maritime Law Enforcement
- 43.0123 Cultural/Archaelogical Resources Protection
- 43.0199 Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 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 and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.