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Role hub · Digital Forensics Analysts

Digital Forensics Analyst: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

BLS does not publish pay for digital forensics analysts separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Computer Occupations, All Other” (SOC 15-1299), which includes digital forensics analysts and other jobs; it is not a figure for digital forensics analysts alone.

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Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
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Median percentile pay

Half of workers in the BLS occupation “Computer Occupations, All Other” earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$116,580
Hourly
$56.05
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

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. The median pay is $116,580 a year ($56.05 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).

Median pay
$116,580
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
435,370
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Key facts

Digital Forensics Analysts at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Computer Occupations, All Other” (which includes digital forensics analysts) in the United States earned a median annual wage of $116,580 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for digital forensics analysts in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 435,370 people were employed as digital forensics analysts in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Digital Forensics Analysts

SalaryComputer Occupations, All Other salary

BLS pay data for this occupation, by state and percentile.

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The work

What digital forensics analysts do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Duplicate digital evidence to use for data recovery and analysis procedures.
  2. Preserve and maintain digital forensic evidence for analysis.
  3. Adhere to legal policies and procedures related to handling digital media.
  4. Write reports, sign affidavits, or give depositions for legal proceedings.
  5. Perform forensic investigations of operating or file systems.
  6. Create system images or capture network settings from information technology environments to preserve as evidence.
  7. Maintain knowledge of laws, regulations, policies or other issuances pertaining to digital forensics or information privacy.
  8. Write technical summaries to report findings.
Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all digital forensics analyst jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix). Figures cover all computer occupations, all other (SOC 15-1299), the broader occupation.

  1. Professional, scientific, and technical services26.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +12.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $125,890
  2. Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals22.4% of all jobs in this occupation · -4.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $124,650
  3. Management of companies and enterprises4.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $133,260
  4. Administrative and support services4.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +1.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $108,110
  5. Educational services; state, local, and private4.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $88,470
  6. Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services3.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +27.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $131,930

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Reading ComprehensioncoreJudgment and Decision MakingcoreActive ListeningcoreWritingSpeakingComplex Problem SolvingActive LearningCritical ThinkingMonitoring

Knowledge areas: Computers and Electronics, Law and Government, English Language, Engineering and Technology.

Tools and technology

Software digital forensics analysts use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Splunk EnterpriseEnterprise system management softwareIn demand
  • Firewall softwareNetwork security and virtual private network VPN equipment softwareIn demand
  • MITRE ATT&CK softwareProgram testing softwareIn demand
  • Ansible softwareExpert system softwareHot technology
  • Border Gateway Protocol BGPSwitch or router softwareHot technology
  • Extensible markup language XMLEnterprise application integration softwareHot technology
  • IBM TerraformConfiguration management softwareHot technology
  • KubernetesApplication server softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Active DirectoryInternet directory services softwareHot technology
  • SlackCloud-based data access and sharing softwareHot technology
  • AccessData FTKNetwork monitoring software
  • Amazon Simple Storage Service S3Storage networking software

Also called: Digital Forensic Analyst, Computer Forensics Analyst, Digital Forensic Examiner, Digital Forensics Examiner, Digital Forensics Specialist.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.