JobAfterNext

Digital Forensics Analysts

Conduct investigations on computer-based crimes establishing documentary or physical evidence, such as digital media and logs associated with cyber intrusion incidents. Analyze digital evidence and investigate computer security incidents to derive information in support of system and network vulnerability mitigation. Preserve and present computer-related evidence in support of criminal, fraud, counterintelligence, or law enforcement investigations.

Wages

BLS doesn't publish wages for Digital Forensics Analysts separately. These are the figures for Computer Occupations, All Other (15-1299), its parent occupation.

Median annual wage, U.S.$116,580
Employment, U.S.435,370
Median hourly wage$56.05
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$55,940$79,370$116,580$157,500$188,470
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama2,630$106,3300.44
Alaska710$105,9600.78
Arizona5,510$105,2400.61
Arkansas1,120$86,9400.31
California80,150$134,4401.57
Colorado11,800$139,5801.47
Connecticut3,100$127,7200.65
Delaware860$137,4700.63
District of Columbia17,200$156,5908.75
Florida13,710$105,3700.49
Georgia20,630$104,6101.51
Hawaii2,080$120,1001.18
Idaho1,040$98,7000.43
Illinois11,160$99,3600.65
Indiana3,340$93,5400.37
Iowa3,850$107,3400.88
Kansas1,340$103,3800.33
Kentucky1,850$89,4200.33
Louisiana5,020$77,0000.93
Maine900$107,9900.50
Maryland19,060$144,6802.46
Massachusetts6,170$109,5900.61
Michigan7,440$105,6800.60
Minnesota4,180$91,7500.51
Mississippi1,450$86,9400.45
Missouri14,340$101,0401.74
Montana540$81,9700.38
Nebraska2,280$92,4800.79
Nevada2,610$100,2200.60
New Hampshire970$91,7200.51
New Jersey12,010$108,3101.00
New Mexico1,650$127,0900.67
New York11,460$116,9900.42
North Carolina15,090$104,8501.09
North Dakota730$78,3300.60
Ohio6,150$109,7800.40
Oklahoma3,320$102,5200.69
Oregon2,450$97,3500.45
Pennsylvania14,580$107,2300.86
Rhode Island830$102,2100.59
South Carolina4,300$112,2600.67
South Dakota240$105,3700.18
Tennessee10,930$76,4701.19
Texas57,020$111,5301.45
Utah6,680$97,4701.37
Vermont1,320$111,5301.56
Virginia17,000$139,0301.48
Washington14,360$128,9401.44
West Virginia3,380$107,1401.72
Wisconsin4,680$88,1300.57
Wyoming170$94,5200.22

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Information Security Analysts40.968
2Information Security Engineers40.960
3Penetration Testers40.959
4Intelligence Analysts40.955
5Document Management Specialists40.953
6Database Administrators40.948
7Blockchain Engineers40.947
8Web and Digital Interface Designers40.942
9Business Continuity Planners40.940
10Private Detectives and Investigators30.939

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Digital Forensics Analysts, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Data Warehousing SpecialistsProgramming2.250.930
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and InvestigatorsCritical Thinking0.870.921

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Digital Forensics Analysts, excluding software Digital Forensics Analysts already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
Apache Tomcat11 of 2022.1x
Oracle WebLogic Server11 of 2020.3x
Microsoft SQL Server16 of 207.9x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux11 of 2019.5x
MongoDB11 of 2018.8x
Red Hat WildFly10 of 2023.1x
NoSQL11 of 2016.9x
Enterprise JavaBeans10 of 2022.0x
KornShell10 of 2022.0x
Microsoft .NET Framework11 of 2016.4x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 3.75 3.75
WritingEssential skill 3.50 3.88
SpeakingEssential skill 3.50 3.75
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.50 3.50
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.50 3.38
Active LearningEssential skill 3.38 3.25
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.38 3.25
MonitoringEssential skill 3.25 3.62
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 3.25 3.38
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.12 3.12
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.00 3.12
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 3.00 2.88
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.00 2.75
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 2.88 3.00
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
CoordinationTransferable skill 2.88 2.88
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.75 2.88
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 2.62not rated
InstructingTransferable skill 2.62 2.75
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.62 2.62
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 2.50not rated
MathematicsEssential skill 2.50 2.75
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.50 2.25
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 2.38not rated
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 2.12 1.50
ProgrammingTransferable skill 2.12 1.50
Technology DesignTransferable skill 2.00 1.25
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 1.88 1.50
RepairingTransferable skill 1.75 1.12
ScienceEssential skill 1.62not rated
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.62 1.12
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.62 0.75
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 1.50 0.88
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 1.38not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Computers and Electronics 4.68 6.07
Law and Government 3.72 4.27
English Language 3.70 4.59
Engineering and Technology 3.23 3.81
Customer and Personal Service 2.85 3.81
Public Safety and Security 2.85 3.00
Telecommunications 2.81 3.52
Education and Training 2.77 3.52
Administrative 2.67 3.67
Mathematics 2.58 3.30
Administration and Management 2.54 3.30
Communications and Media 2.44 3.07
Psychology 2.30 2.22
Production and Processing 2.12 2.07
Mechanical 1.78 1.78
Sales and Marketing 1.67 1.44
Design 1.63 1.33
Sociology and Anthropology 1.62 1.30
Foreign Language 1.59 1.44
Personnel and Human Resources 1.59 1.22
Economics and Accounting 1.48 1.23
Geography 1.41 0.85
Transportation 1.30not rated
Physics 1.26not rated
History and Archeology 1.22not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.19not rated
Chemistry 1.15not rated
Fine Arts 1.15not rated
Medicine and Dentistry 1.15not rated
Philosophy and Theology 1.12not rated
Biology 1.11not rated
Building and Construction 1.07not rated
Food Production 1.04not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.25
Deductive Reasoning 4.00 4.00
Written Expression 3.88 4.12
Inductive Reasoning 3.88 4.00
Oral Comprehension 3.88 4.00
Oral Expression 3.62 3.88
Problem Sensitivity 3.62 3.88
Information Ordering 3.62 3.75
Flexibility of Closure 3.50 3.75
Selective Attention 3.50 3.25
Near Vision 3.38 3.50
Fluency of Ideas 3.25 3.50
Originality 3.25 3.50
Category Flexibility 3.25 3.38
Speech Recognition 3.25 3.38
Speech Clarity 3.25 3.12
Perceptual Speed 3.00 3.00
Far Vision 2.62 2.75
Speed of Closure 2.62 2.50
Memorization 2.50 2.50
Time Sharing 2.50 2.50
Visual Color Discrimination 2.50 2.50
Visualization 2.38 2.75
Mathematical Reasoning 2.38 2.50
Number Facility 2.38 2.25
Hearing Sensitivity 2.12 1.88
Auditory Attention 2.00 1.62
Manual Dexterity 2.00 1.62
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.00 1.50
Finger Dexterity 2.00 1.50
Trunk Strength 2.00 1.25
Depth Perception 1.88 1.25
Control Precision 1.75 1.12
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.75 1.00
Extent Flexibility 1.62 0.75
Sound Localization 1.25not rated
Spatial Orientation 1.25not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.12not rated
Multilimb Coordination 1.12not rated
Night Vision 1.12not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.12not rated
Response Orientation 1.12not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Rate Control 1.00not rated
Reaction Time 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 64
  • Microsoft Windows Server hot
  • Oracle Java hot
  • PHP hot
  • Perl hot
  • R hot
  • Ruby hot
  • ServiceNow hot
  • Slack hot
  • UNIX hot
  • AccessData FTK
  • Amazon Simple Storage Service S3
  • Cisco Systems Cisco NetFlow Collection Engine
  • Computer forensic software
  • Enterprise application integration EAI software
  • Geographic information system GIS systems
  • Graphical user interface GUI design software
  • Guidance Software EnCase Enterprise
  • IBM QRadar SIEM
  • Intrusion detection system IDS
  • Kali Linux
  • Management information systems MIS
  • Metasploit
  • Microsoft Defender Antivirus
  • Network directory services software
  • OpenVAS
  • Platform as a service PaaS
  • Portswigger BurP Suite
  • Security assertion markup language SAML
  • Single sign-on SSO
  • Snort
  • System testing software
  • Tenable Nessus
  • Web server software
  • Wireshark

Where it concentrates

BLS doesn't publish wages for Digital Forensics Analysts separately. These are the figures for Computer Occupations, All Other (15-1299), its parent occupation.

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ5005.29$118,120
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA16,6805.25$184,430
Lexington Park, MD1,0005.05$144,680
Parkersburg-Vienna, WV3503.46$106,330
Warner Robins, GA6903.26$100,260
Elizabethtown, KY4503.14$106,330
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX10,1002.79$129,470
Fayetteville, NC9702.65$101,800
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA16,9302.55$161,700
Burlington-South Burlington, VT8402.51$121,850

More metros, other thresholds