Track down federal fugitives, guard federal courts and protect witnesses for the United States Marshals Service. Most people get in after police work or a graduate degree.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
The median pay is about $93,790 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $55,390 at the lower end to about $160,540 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
4 to 8 years after high school, on the usual route.
From nothing up to about $72,000, depending on the route, for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no license to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Limited demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$93,790
Bottom tenth
$55,390
Top tenth
$160,540
The 2025 federal wage survey has no separate line for deputy marshals. These are the figures for all detectives and criminal investigators: a median of $93,790 a year, with the bottom tenth at $55,390 or less and the top tenth at $160,540 or more. Deputies themselves are paid on published federal tables.
From $63,780
2026 base pay at law enforcement grade 9, step 1, the grade the 2026 job postings hired at
That is the lowest local rate. The postings quote $54,485 to $70,307 before the local adjustment is added. In the Washington area the starting step pays $72,977, and some big cities pay more.
$106,437 to $158,322
2026 base pay at General Schedule grade 13, the top of the entry career ladder
The range runs from the lowest local rate to the top step in the Washington area. Federal law adds 25% for criminal investigators who must be on call for unscheduled duty. The postings do not mention it, so ask during hiring.
Roughly, all in
Nothing to $72,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Training at the federal academy costs you nothing: you are a paid employee. The low end is the police route: a year as a full-time sworn officer qualifies you, and many police departments pay for their own academy. The high end is the graduate route: about six years of in-state public tuition for a bachelor's and a master's degree. The hiring process itself is free but slow.
File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) if you take the degree route.
An early federal pension
Law enforcement officers can retire at 50 with 20 years of service.
Federal health insurance and leave
The standard federal benefits package for you and your family.
A career ladder
You are hired with promotion potential to General Schedule grade 13 without competing for each step.
Training you cannot buy
Arrest tactics, court security, firearms and investigations, all paid while you are on salary.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
There is no license. There is a narrow door, and most people come through police work first.
High school
Grade 12
Keep your record clean. A full background investigation will look at all of it.
Get the experience or the degree
2 to 6 years
Either a year as a full-time sworn officer making arrests, serving warrants or moving prisoners, or a master's or law degree in a related field.
Apply the day it opens
A few months
Postings close after a set number of applications. Then an online test, a fitness screening, a structured interview and a tentative offer.
Background, medical and drug test
Several months
A full background investigation for a Top Secret clearance, then a final offer.
Training in Glynco, Georgia
About 5 months
A short pre-course, the 59-day federal investigator program, then 39 days of marshal training.
Physical education
There is a fitness screening to get in, a test before training and another twice a year after that.
Government or civics
The job is enforcing federal court orders. Knowing how the courts work matters.
English
You will testify in court and write reports that lawyers pick apart.
Psychology or sociology
Both count as related fields for the graduate route.
You are a deputy because the Marshals Service hired you. The postings ask for citizenship of the United States, a driver's license, a medical exam, a drug test and a full background check for a Top Secret clearance. You must carry a handgun, so a conviction for domestic violence, even a misdemeanor, rules you out. You sign an agreement to move where you are needed, stay at your first post for three years, and finish a trial period.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Police or sheriff's work
A year of full-time sworn work serving warrants, making arrests or handling court security is the most direct way in.
A related graduate degree
Criminal justice, criminology, forensic science, psychology, public administration, political science or law all count.
Military service
Eligible veterans can be hired past the usual age limit.
Prior federal law enforcement
It also lifts the age limit.
Missing the window
Postings can close within a day once enough people apply.
The fitness screening
You get one chance to pass it, scored for your age and sex.
Overstating your experience
If your resume does not back up your answers, you lose the credit or the application.
Your past
The background check, the drug test and the medical exam each end applications every year.
Some postings are open only to people who already work as federal criminal investigators. They hire at General Schedule grades 11 to 13, higher than the usual starting grade. If you are already an agent with another federal agency, watch for these.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
It depends on the week. Some days are court: securing a trial or hearing, protecting a judge, guarding a jury that has been kept apart from the public. Some are fugitive work: planning and carrying out arrest warrants with a task force of local and federal officers. Others are serving court papers, moving prisoners, testifying, or helping protect officials and visiting foreign leaders.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
One May 2026 posting for deputy marshals opened on May 15 and closed on May 16. It was set to shut as soon as 400 people had applied.
The Marshals Service is the main federal agency for hunting fugitives. It also runs the witness security program and sells property seized from criminals.
Deputies must pass a qualification with several firearms twice a year and a fitness test twice a year, for as long as they hold the job.
First-time federal law enforcement hires must be 21 to 36. Federal law enforcement officers must retire at 57 once they have 20 years of service.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Police and fire first, then the rest of the field. See every career in law and public safety.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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