Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
How does the salary of an ICE agent compare to a US Border Patrol agent in 2025?
Executive Summary
Salary-reporting sources from May 2025 show ICE special agents and other ICE investigative roles average roughly $93,000–$111,000 annually, while government career pages and General Schedule (GS) pay rules indicate Border Patrol pay is tied to GS grades and entry-level listings that vary widely and are not directly summarized in the provided analyses; therefore a precise one-line 2025 comparison is not available from the supplied material. The data set documents credible ICE salary ranges and highlights gaps and legislative pressures that could raise CBP and ICE pay, but it does not supply a definitive Border Patrol 2025 average for head-to-head comparison [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. What the claims say and why they matter — clearing up the competing statements
The supplied analyses advance a few discrete claims: that Salary.com reported average 2025 pay for ICE Special Agents at about $110,853, for ICE Immigration Officers at $102,519, and for ICE Criminal Investigators at $93,152, each with reported ranges showing significant overlap and role-based differences [1] [2] [3]. In parallel, the CBP career pages and General Schedule references in the provided dataset indicate that Border Patrol pay follows GS grade/step systems and recruitment-entry listings, but those materials in this packet do not include a consolidated Border Patrol average for 2025 to match against ICE figures [4] [5]. This matters because headline comparisons between agencies often assume parity that the underlying pay frameworks — GS steps, locality pay, overtime and recruitment incentives — do not support; the available claims make clear ICE pay estimates but do not permit a clean point-to-point Border Patrol comparison within the provided evidence [1] [3] [5].
2. ICE pay picture in 2025 — what the salary pages actually show
Salary.com snapshots from May 2025 present consistent mid-to-high five-figure averages across ICE investigative roles, with Special Agents averaging about $110,853 (range $96,199–$134,483), Immigration Officers averaging about $102,519 (range $89,288–$118,526), and Criminal Investigators averaging about $93,152 (range $70,160–$102,086) — all indicating that many ICE investigative positions cluster above $90,000 annually** [1] [2] [3]. Those entries also translate to approximate hourly equivalents in the analyses and stress that location, experience and role-specific classifications drive the ranges; Salary.com is a private aggregator that typically blends advertised salaries, reported compensation and GS-conversion estimates, so the figures are useful for a relative sense of ICE pay but do not replace official agency pay tables [1] [2] [3]. The provided material does not break out locality pay, overtime, or special-duty differentials that materially affect take-home compensation.
3. Border Patrol pay — what the career pages and GS guidance leave unsaid
The career-facing materials for Customs and Border Protection included in the dataset confirm that Border Patrol agent pay is structured under the General Schedule and varies by grade/step and locality, and the CBP career listings referenced do include entry-level figures in some contexts but the supplied extracts do not provide a consolidated 2025 average comparable to the ICE summaries [4] [5]. One supplied analysis notes an entry-level listing for CBP-related positions starting at roughly $36,118 with recruitment incentives in some postings, but that figure appears to reflect specific non-agent roles or an incomplete listing rather than the full GS-based Border Patrol compensation package and thus cannot be compared directly to Salary.com’s ICE agent averages without further breakdown [2] [4]. The documents emphasize the need to know exact GS grades, locality pay zones, and step progression to compute a true Border Patrol median or mean for 2025.
4. Budget moves and political pressure — raises could reshape the comparison
Separate budget- and policy-focused analyses in the dataset document large FY2025 funding increases and legislative language that explicitly authorizes increased pay for Border Patrol and ICE personnel, with major appropriations cited across ICE and CBP that could raise effective employment costs and compensation expectations [6] [7]. The reporting asserts that the regulatory or legislative packages under discussion would create substantial hiring and compensation commitments — for example, a cited cost figure of $200,000 compensation per ICE agent per year appears in one analysis as a modeled or proposed total cost, not a base salary figure, and the broader context stresses recruitment of thousands of new officers and expanded budgets [6] [7]. These budgetary shifts signal that 2025 pay comparisons could change if Congress or agencies enact pay adjustments, but the provided materials document the proposals and allocations rather than final, uniform salary increases.
5. Reconciling the data — what can and cannot be concluded with confidence
From the supplied evidence it is valid to state with confidence that ICE investigative roles in May 2025 averaged roughly $93,000–$111,000 per year, reflecting role-specific ranges captured by Salary.com, and that Border Patrol pay cannot be precisely compared using only the provided CBP career extracts because those items lack an agency-wide 2025 average and depend on GS/locality details [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. The budget analyses underscore that both agencies were subject to legislative attention and funding increases in 2025 that could alter pay scales, but those materials do not replace base pay tables and thus cannot be used to compute a definitive Border Patrol average for this comparison [6] [7]. Readers should note the potential agenda signals: Salary aggregators aim to summarize compensation for job seekers and may smooth GS complexities, career pages aim to recruit and therefore highlight entry or incentive figures selectively, and budget critiques emphasize overall costs and policy impacts rather than individual paychecks.
6. Bottom line — what a careful reader should take away right now
The correct immediate takeaway is that the provided materials show ICE investigative pay ranges in 2025 but do not supply the comparable, consolidated Border Patrol average needed for a precise head-to-head comparison; any simple claim that one agency’s agents definitively earn more than the other in 2025 exceeds the available evidence here [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. To finalize a direct comparison you need official 2025 GS tables or CBP payroll summaries showing Border Patrol grade/step distributions plus locality and overtime data; absent those items in this packet, the safest factual characterization is that ICE investigative roles were reported around the low-to-mid six-figure range at top end and high five figures at bottom end, while Border Patrol pay varies by GS and locality and requires further source-specific calculation [1] [3] [5] [6].