Series 1811

Criminal Investigation

Criminal investigators (special agents) who investigate federal crimes, gather evidence, make arrests, and testify in court. Most jobs have age limits and physical requirements.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

1800 Inspection, Investigation, Enforcement, and Compliance Group · General Schedule

See open 1811 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 1,214
Open now: 41
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Steady (-4%)
Demand score: 93/100
Remote opportunity score: 51/100
Veteran opportunity score: 44/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-12 to GS-14

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 81% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$109,383 to $158,322 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 20%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 80%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 27%
Telework eligible (open now): 51%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of Justice (381)
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations (222)
Department of Homeland Security (165)
Department of Commerce (53)
Department of the Interior (50)

Top states

District of Columbia (281)
Virginia (225)
Texas (218)
California (202)
Florida (163)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

When this series usually posts jobs

Postings usually peak in March and June and are lowest in January.

Typical postings for series 1811 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	13% below average
February	7% below average
March	20% above average
April	About average
May	About average
June	12% above average
July	About average
August	About average
September	About average
October	About average
November	7% below average
December	8% below average

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 1811 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	917
FY 2019	1,099
FY 2020	1,117
FY 2021	1,333
FY 2022	1,678
FY 2023	1,595
FY 2024	1,663
FY 2025	1,052
FY 2026	1,130

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 1811 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	62
Jan 2026	100
Feb 2026	79
Mar 2026	111
Apr 2026	148
May 2026	114
Jun 2026	106
Jul 2026	124
Aug 2026	112
Sep 2026	93
Oct 2026	126
Nov 2026 (month to date)	39

1801 General Inspection, Investigation, Enforcement, and Compliance 2,385 postings in 12 months
1802 Compliance Inspection and Support 1,429 postings in 12 months
1825 Aviation Safety 790 postings in 12 months
1896 Border Patrol Enforcement 689 postings in 12 months
1862 Consumer Safety Inspection 434 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.