Who's Hiring Forensic Scientists
By far, the biggest employers of forensic scientists this year are local governments, which account for about 6,000 forensic scientists in the country. This is more than double the number that are employed by state crime labs, at 3,600. Believe it or not, psychiatric and drug abuse hospitals are in a distant third, with nearly 600 forensic psychologists and forensic psychiatrists employed throughout the US. In fourth place, private investigation and security businesses employ about 400 forensic specialists in the country. In fifth place is the good-old U.S. federal government (the Executive branch, of course), which has about 150 employed at any one time.
The Best States for Finding a Forensics Job
So which states have the most jobs? By far, Florida hires the most forensic scientists (and, anecdotally, seems to take in the most interns from undergraduate and graduate programs throughout the US). Illinois comes in second in terms of number of jobs, followed by North Carolina, Arizona and Kansas. While Kansas might be in last place, it pays the most of the bunch: more than $62,000 a year. North Carolina is lower than all the rest, likely a result of the lower cost of living there: $38,000.
So which states will pay you the most? Connecticut, by far, at more than $67,000 a year. But there aren't many gigs there -- by last count, it was something like 90 in the whole state. California and Kansas both page more than $61,000, followed by New York and Virginia close behind, at around $59,000 a year.
