Gambling Surveillance Officers and Gambling Investigators
SOC 33-9031 · 2024-2034
Observe gambling operation for irregular activities such as cheating or theft by either employees or patrons. Investigate potential threats to gambling assets such as money, chips, and gambling equipment. Act as oversight and security agent for management and customers.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $45,873per year
- Projected openings
- 1,300
- Projected change
- 0%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $47,699 | 100 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $47,421 | 160 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $47,010 | 50 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $46,475 | 500 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $46,052 | 220 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $40,263 | 100 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $38,860
- A quarter earn under
- $43,177
- Half earn under
- $45,873
- Three quarters earn under
- $48,324
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $59,572
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Operations Specialists, All Other | $89,039 | 152,190 | +6.8% |
| Facilities Managers | $120,610 | 19,690 | +8% |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | $138,203 | 59,320 | +11.1% |
| First-line Supervisors of Security Workers | $55,327 | 11,110 | +5.5% |
| First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers | $69,733 | 4,210 | +7.9% |
| Private Detectives and Investigators | $62,801 | 4,230 | +6.4% |
Programs that train for this job — 2
Security Officer Trainee
Westchester-Emerson Community Adult - LAUSD · Los Angeles · $774
FUNDAMENTAL SECURITY COHORT (HYBRID)
Sentri Institute Inc. · Stanton · $3,236