In this post I’d like to take the time to answer the question, how much money do FBI agents make? Once again, I’d like to cover another agency that makes up one part of the Intelligence community.

I do this because I’ve found that very often the people who are interested in conspiracy theories and paranormal topics are often also either already involved in the Intelligence community, or they are excellent candidates to become involved in one of the many agencies that make up that community. Because of this, I can only assume that a significant number of TopSecretWriters readers are curious about FBI agent salary and the level of compensation they could expect if they joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Taking a Close Look at FBI Agent Salary

So how much money do FBI agents make? According to my own sources within the U.S. intel community, Federal agents aren’t exactly highly compensated. Many people join the FBI in large part because of the excitement and intrigue of the job, and because when you’re an FBI agent you can be sure that your job will be pretty interesting every day.

how much money do fbi agents make

Reviewing multiple sources across the internet that did not cite their own source of data, the consensus was that the average FBI agent salary ranges between a starting compensation of $48,000 for a new hire, up to about $87,000 for a senior agent with 12 years of experience. Since these sources were uncited, I kept digging and discovered a great resource - a website called Payscale.com, which outlines FBI agent salary in graphical format.


fbi agent salary

So, how much money do FBI agents make? The data above comes from a sampling of 315 FBI agents - so it’s a decent sampling of the average FBI agent salary that you could expect if you choose a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As you can see, the senior agent salary of just over $80k doesn’t reflect a cap - there is some decent income that you can expect if you make the FBI a long term career. According to PayScale, once you hit the level of 20 years of service you can reasonably expect a six figure income of over $100,000 a year. If these FBI agent salary estimates sound reasonable to you, you may be asking what sort of jobs are available with the FBI. The answer is that there is a very wide range of career fields available with the agency.

Choosing a Career With the FBI

You can learn more about the careers that are available with the FBI at FBIJobs.gov. The following career fields make up the job classes that the FBI typically looks to fill.

  • Linguists - You will translate and analyze critical data that could have national security implications. How many people have a job where they could make that claim?
  • Special Agents - You will conduct sensitive investigations covering areas of terrorism, civil rights, financial crime, public corruption and much more.
  • Hostage Rescue - This is an impressive unit of the FBI that enters the arena any time there’s a terrorist crime or event where hostages are involved.
  • Professional Staff - Administrators, managers and project managers - the FBI needs them too!

So, if the FBI agent salary estimates look good, and you can see a career field with the FBI producing a long and rewarding career for a person like you, then I suggest you visit FBIJobs.gov today and apply, and best of luck from TopSecretWriters!

Posted by Ryan in December 7th, 2009  
Posted in: Government Intelligence     Tags: , ,

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