Country in Check

• The country's 6,620 surveillance officers kept an eye on casinos, gaming and events held at their facilities throughout the country, taking in a median salary of $30,680, as reported in the Occupational Employment and Wages report conducted by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2010. Surveillance officers' salaries were estimated to start at $20,480 in the 10th percentile and rise to $49,660 in the 90th percentile.
  
  

Getting in the Game

• Local government employed the most surveillance officers, paying mean annual wages slightly higher than the country's median at $32,480. This was the country's third-highest salary for the field; surveillance officers working for state government had the highest salaries, at $49,400, although state government was listed by the BLS as the fourth-largest employer. Gambling industries, which employed the second-largest contingent of surveillance officers, paid just under the national median for its workers, at $30,660, which ranked as the fourth-highest salaries on the BLS list.
  
  

High Rollers

• Surveillance officers in Connecticut earned the highest national salaries, taking in annual mean wages of $43,760. Indiana's surveillance officers received the second-highest salaries, at $42,580, followed by those in California, making $41,390. Employers of surveillance officers in Illinois paid the fourth-highest wages for the profession, at $37,640, with Nevada's salaries for the field closing out the top five at $35,920.
  
  

Salaries and Employment

• The BLS survey revealed a correlation -- in some cases -- between states with high surveillance officer salaries and states with the highest employment in the field. Nevada, with the fifth-highest salary, not surprisingly had the top employment level of surveillance officers. Washington state, though second-highest for employment, paid just under the national median at $29,160. California, in third place for salary level, also had the third-highest employment level. Mississippi placed fourth for employment level, paying an above-average $34,940. Second-place highest-salary ranking Indiana was home to the fifth-highest employment level in the profession.