Detectives and Criminal Investigators in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,119
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$26,121
25.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,797
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$101,240
Kept after tax
$75,119
Worth in national money
$69,797
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New York is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $101,240, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 7.94% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in New York. It ranks 100 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $101,240 the take-home is $75,119. But New York costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $69,797 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $105,880, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New York ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for detectives and criminal investigators, at $101,240 — about 7.94% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within New York, detectives and criminal investigators ranks 100 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New York income tax is $75,119 for detectives and criminal investigators, from $101,240. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $69,797. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $105,880 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,800 |
| This salary | $101,240 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New York | $75,119 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,052 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,583 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $94,228 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,381 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of detectives and criminal investigators in New York earn under $101,240 and half over. The published range runs $62,130 at the tenth percentile to $166,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $75,119 take-home in New York comes from $101,240. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 100 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $69,797 uses one figure for the whole of New York. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 100.
- Figures are distribution medians for detectives and criminal investigators in New York, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $62,130 to $166,800; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $75,119, from $101,240, assumes a single New York filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 100 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $69,797, worked from $101,240, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular New York address, on work sitting at 100 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $105,880 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $62,130, the highest tenth $166,800, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $69,797 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New York's own levy, $75,119 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in New York is $105,880. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($62,130) and the ninetieth ($166,800) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $69,797 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $75,119 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.