Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Forensic Science Technicians
Occupation · SOC 19-4092.00
Collect, identify, classify, and analyze physical evidence related to criminal investigations. Perform tests on weapons or substances, such as fiber, hair, and tissue to determine significance to investigation. May testify as expert witnesses on evidence or crime laboratory techniques. May serve as specialists in area of expertise, such as ballistics, fingerprinting, handwriting, or biochemistry.
Also called: CSI (Crime Scene Investigator) · Crime Scene Technician (Crime Scene Tech) · Criminalist · Forensic Scientist · Crime Lab Analyst (Crime Laboratory Analyst) · Crime Scene Analyst (CSA) · Evidence Technician (Evidence Tech) · Forensic Science Examiner · Forensic Specialist · Latent Print Examiner · Ballistician · Ballistics Technician (Ballistics Tech)
Job family: Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-19-4092-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Growing fast employment outlook (+12.8% by 2034)
- 2,900 openings/yr
- Moderate AI exposure
- Median pay $67,440/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- A reversal from 2013 — rated low automation risk then (6th), high AI task-overlap now (57th)
57th-percentile task overlap — yet about 2,900 openings a year (+12.8% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Moderate | 55th | 0.2 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Moderate | 56th | 0.7 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Moderate | 63rd | 0.2 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.4), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.7). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.0 · 6th percentile among occupations · Low
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Identify and quantify drugs or poisons found in biological fluids or tissues, in foods, or at crime scenes. | 0.3% | |
| Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques. | 0.2% |
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Growing fast · +12.8% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 2,900 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 20,700 → 23,300 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Forensic Science Technicians sits at the 47th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure eased from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
26% mean task exposure (2025)
47th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−16 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Physical and Engineering Science Technicians Not Elsewhere Classified · 3119 | 26% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 21 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Collect evidence from crime scenes, storing it in conditions that preserve its integrity. Core · importance 4.9
- Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques. Core · importance 4.8
- Use photographic or video equipment to document evidence or crime scenes. Core · importance 4.7
- Testify in court about investigative or analytical methods or findings. Core · importance 4.5
- Use chemicals or other substances to examine latent fingerprint evidence and compare developed prints to those of known persons in databases. Supplemental · importance 4.5
- Visit morgues, examine scenes of crimes, or contact other sources to obtain evidence or information to be used in investigations. Core · importance 4.3
- Train new technicians or other personnel on forensic science techniques. Core · importance 4.3
- Operate and maintain laboratory equipment and apparatus. Core · importance 4.1
- Collect impressions of dust from surfaces to obtain and identify fingerprints. Supplemental · importance 4.1
- Reconstruct crime scenes to determine relationships among pieces of evidence. Core · importance 4.1
- Determine types of bullets and specific weapons used in shootings. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Review forensic analysts' reports for technical merit. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Interpret laboratory findings or test results to identify and classify substances, materials, or other evidence collected at crime scenes. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Examine and analyze blood stain patterns at crime scenes. Supplemental · importance 3.9
- Analyze gunshot residue and bullet paths to determine how shootings occurred. Supplemental · importance 3.9
- Confer with ballistics, fingerprinting, handwriting, documents, electronics, medical, chemical, or metallurgical experts concerning evidence and its interpretation. Core · importance 3.8
- Compare objects, such as tools, with impression marks to determine whether a specific object is responsible for a specific mark. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Identify and quantify drugs or poisons found in biological fluids or tissues, in foods, or at crime scenes. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Examine firearms to determine mechanical condition and legal status, performing restoration work on damaged firearms to obtain information, such as serial numbers. Supplemental · importance 3.6
- Prepare solutions, reagents, or sample formulations needed for laboratory work. Core · importance 3.4
- Examine physical evidence, such as hair, fiber, wood, or soil residues to obtain information about its source and composition. Supplemental
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Enter data into databases.
- Operate drones to capture aerial footage or photographs of crime scenes for further analysis.
Work activities
- Testify at legal or legislative proceedings.
- Interpret research or operational data.
- Operate laboratory or field equipment.
- Maintain laboratory or technical equipment.
- Prepare compounds or solutions for products or testing.
- Analyze forensic evidence to solve crimes.
- Test fluids to identify contamination or other problems.
- Analyze biological samples.
- Examine crime scenes to obtain evidence.
- Analyze data to identify trends or relationships among variables.
- Collaborate on research activities with scientists or technical specialists.
- Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.
- Record research or operational data.
- Train personnel in technical or scientific procedures.
- Document events or evidence, using photographic or audiovisual equipment.
- Verify information or specifications.
- Verify accuracy of data.
- Collect evidence for legal proceedings.
- Measure distances or dimensions.
- Analyze crime scene evidence.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| Law and Government | 4.5 | |
| Public Safety and Security | 4.2 | |
| Education and Training | 3.7 | |
| English Language | 3.6 | |
| Computers and Electronics | 3.4 | |
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.3 | |
| Administration and Management | 3.2 | |
| Chemistry | 3.1 | |
| Administrative | 3.1 | |
| Biology | 3.0 |
Essential skills
| Reading Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Active Listening | 4.0 | |
| Writing | 4.0 | |
| Speaking | 4.0 | |
| Critical Thinking | 4.0 | |
| Active Learning | 3.4 | |
| Science | 3.3 | |
| Monitoring | 3.3 |
Abilities
| Oral Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Written Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 4.0 | |
| Written Expression | 4.0 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 4.0 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 4.0 | |
| Near Vision | 4.0 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.9 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.9 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.8 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.8 | |
| Far Vision | 3.8 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.8 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.8 | |
| Visual Color Discrimination | 3.4 | |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.3 | |
| Perceptual Speed | 3.3 | |
| Speed of Closure | 3.1 |
Transferable skills
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.6 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.3 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.3 | |
| Coordination | 3.1 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Showing the top 40 of 42.
Tools & technology
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
- Typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
- Preparation level
- SVP (6.0 to < 7.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Biological and Biomedical Sciences , Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services , Physical Sciences , Social Sciences . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 36.3% | |
| High School Diploma | 29.3% | |
| Bachelor's Degree | 15.3% | |
| Master's Degree | 2.0% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Work styles
| Dependability | 7.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 6.0 | |
| Integrity | 5.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 4.0 | |
| Intellectual Curiosity | 3.0 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Investigative | 5.9 | |
| Realistic | 5.2 | |
| Conventional | 5.0 |
Interest areas
| Physical Science | 5.0 | |
| Life Science | 4.4 | |
| Protective Service | 4.1 | |
| Law | 3.4 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 3.3 | |
| Medical Science | 3.2 | |
| Public Speaking | 2.7 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 2.5 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $45,560 |
| 25th percentile | $53,310 |
| Median (50th) | $67,440 |
| 75th percentile | $88,710 |
| 90th percentile | $110,710 |
| People employed | 19,450 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 1,260 | $67,440 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 460 | $57,950 |
| Testing Laboratories and Services · National industry | 450 | $62,860 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 380 | $49,980 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance · Sector | 340 | $51,080 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 80 | — |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Testing Laboratories and Services · National industry | 20.93× | 450 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 3.15× | 460 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 0.93× | 1,260 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 0.22× | 380 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance · Sector | 0.12× | 340 |
Related occupations
Part of the Public Service & Safety career cluster.
- Police Identification and Records Officers · 33-3021.02 Compare →
- Digital Forensics Analysts · 15-1299.06 Compare →
- Detectives and Criminal Investigators · 33-3021.00 Compare →
- Coroners · 13-1041.06 Compare →
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians · 29-2012.00 Compare →
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists · 29-2011.00 Compare →
- Private Detectives and Investigators · 33-9021.00 Compare →
- Intelligence Analysts · 33-3021.06 Compare →
- Histology Technicians · 29-2012.01 Compare →
- Fraud Examiners, Investigators and Analysts · 13-2099.04 Compare →
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health · 19-4042.00 Compare →
- Microbiologists · 19-1022.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Forensic Science Technicians — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Bachelor's degree · typical entry level
- Job zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences · field of study
- Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 47th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Forensic Science Technicians show 57th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 2,900 annual U.S. openings
- Forensic Science Technicians rank in the 57th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 2,900 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+12.8%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $67,440, across about 19,450 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Forensic Science Technicians show 57th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 2,900 annual U.S. openings • Forensic Science Technicians rank in the 57th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 2,900 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+12.8%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $67,440, across about 19,450 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Forensic Science Technicians". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-4092-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Forensic Science Technicians." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-4092-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Forensic Science Technicians. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-4092-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-19-4092-00,
title = {Forensic Science Technicians},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-19-4092-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.