Private investigator costs, license checks and a cheaper first step

A private investigator in the US typically charges $50 to $150 an hour, going by the four price guides we compared, and many ask for a retainer of $500 to $2,500 before they start. Surveillance is often priced by the day: Bark puts infidelity and custody surveillance at $800 to $1,200 a day. Before you pay that, check the investigator's license, and see how much of your question you can answer online for little or nothing.

How much does a private investigator cost?

Most investigators quote an hourly rate (26 of the 32 firms in one 2026 phone survey did), and the four price guides we compared put the average between $50 and $150 an hour, plus a retainer that starts around $500. We found no government figures for what investigators charge clients, so the rates below come from a marketplace, a law firm's phone survey, a directory and a cost guide.

Surveillance has its own prices. Bark lists basic single-investigator surveillance at $600 to $800 a day and infidelity or custody work at $800 to $1,200, while complex jobs with several investigators can reach $1,200 to $1,600 or more. Its average for surveillance is $95 an hour.

Investigators themselves earn much less than these rates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median wage of private detectives and investigators at $24.62 an hour, or $51,220 a year, in May 2025, across 39,500 jobs.

What a private investigator does

The BLS describes the job as interviewing people, searching online, public and court records for civil judgments, criminal history and other evidence, conducting surveillance, and reporting the findings to the client. Its examples include background checks, employees suspected of workplace theft, and proving or disproving infidelity in a divorce case.

Investigators also have to collect and document evidence properly so that a court can use it. In our view that is the best reason to hire one. If a case may end up before a judge, the evidence should come from someone who knows how to gather it lawfully.

What a private investigator can't do

A private investigator has no police powers, and the BLS notes that investigators are held to the same standards of conduct as private citizens. The limits below come from state regulators and statutes, as general information rather than legal advice. Other states have their own rules.

If an investigator offers to pull phone records, get into someone's accounts or put a tracker on a car, find a different investigator.

How to find a private investigator near you and check the license

All four states we checked license private investigators and run a public lookup. Ask for the license number before you pay anything, then look it up yourself.

A license tells you the investigator is allowed to work. Before you pay a retainer, ask for:

1. The investigator's license number, and the company's where the state licenses firms separately, as Texas does.
2. A written estimate with the hourly or daily rate, expenses, the retainer and whether unused money comes back to you. One agency quoted by CostHelper takes a minimum $1,000 refundable retainer for a domestic surveillance case.
3. How the findings will be documented and delivered, especially if the case may go to court.
4. Whether any part of the plan involves recording calls, tracking someone or getting their records, and which law allows it.

Infidelity cases: what an investigator costs, by our math

Infidelity cases are priced mostly as surveillance time, and investigators plan them very differently. In a 2017 PInow article, one investigator suggested a minimum of 20 hours of surveillance and put a thorough infidelity investigation at $3,000 or more. Another planned one to three days. A third said domestic investigations generally cost $2,500 to $5,000. CostHelper puts a straightforward case that is easily resolved at $500 to $1,500 and a longer one at $2,000 to $5,000 or more.

We multiplied those plans by the published rates:

On top of that, many investigators want a $500 to $2,500 retainer upfront, according to Bark. The investigator who suggested 20 hours put the floor at $3,000, which is $150 an hour.

An email check sits at the other end of the scale. CheckMate.bio's free search, three a week, shows how many accounts an email address has in each category, Dating included, and names a few of the services. The full report costs $0.99, or $2.99 for five and $4.99 for ten, used within 90 days. It lists names, usernames, photos, bios, last-active dates and profile links where the sites show them, with a confidence score for each match.

We'd start with the free search. A report misses accounts made with another email address, so an empty Dating category doesn't clear anyone. If the search does turn up dating profiles, the $0.99 report shows which sites and under what name, and you can then decide whether the question needs surveillance and a licensed investigator.

What to check yourself before you hire anyone

1. Their email address. Our guide on how to investigate an email covers the free steps. CheckMate.bio checks 2,500+ sites, 298 of them by the address itself and the rest by the username before the @.
2. Public records: court cases, sex offender registries, property and business filings. Many official portals are free, and our public records guide lists the fees for the rest.
3. Their photos. For someone you met online, the FTC suggests a reverse image search of their profile picture: a photo tied to another name is a sign of a scam.
4. A business contact's claims, if the question is about a deal. Checking a business partner walks through company filings, licenses and online accounts.

Questions people ask

How much does a private investigator cost per hour?

Most price guides put the average between $50 and $150 an hour. Bark says $68 to $125, a 2026 phone survey of 32 firms averaged $132, PInow says $99 to $150 and CostHelper says $50 to $100 is typical. Specialist work can reach $400 an hour, and many investigators want a retainer of $500 to $2,500 before they start.

How do I find a good private investigator near me?

Start with your state's license lookup. In California that is the DCA License Search, in Texas the TOPS search, in Florida the FDACS licensee search and in New York the Department of State licensee search. Get written estimates from two or three licensed investigators in your area, compare the rates and retainer terms, and check each license number against the lookup before you pay.

Is a private detective the same as a private investigator?

For hiring purposes, yes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts private detectives and investigators as one occupation, and California, Texas, Florida and New York all issue the license as a private investigator license. If you're searching for a 'private detective near me', the license to look up is the private investigator one.

Can a private investigator track someone's phone or car?

Usually not. Investigators have no police powers, getting phone records by pretexting is a federal crime, and the three states we checked restrict tracking devices. California bars them unless the vehicle's owner, lessor or lessee consents, Texas makes installing one a misdemeanor with a narrow defense for licensed investigators who have written consent or a court order, and Florida makes it a felony without consent. This is general information rather than legal advice.

How long does an infidelity investigation take?

The investigators PInow quoted planned anything from one to three days of surveillance to a minimum of 20 hours. At Bark's day rate of $800 to $1,200, one to three days comes to $800 to $3,600, and 20 hours at its $95 surveillance average comes to $1,900.

Is there a cheaper alternative to a private investigator?

For the online part of a case, yes. You can search many public records yourself for free, and CheckMate.bio's free search shows which categories an email address has accounts in; the full report costs $0.99. Neither replaces surveillance or evidence gathered for court, and for those you need a licensed investigator.

What a report can't tell you, and what the law says

A CheckMate.bio report shows accounts linked to an email address and the public details those sites expose. It can't show messages, browsing history or location, and it misses accounts made with another email, deleted profiles and sites it doesn't check. Results come from third-party sources, including breach records, and can be incomplete, outdated or wrong. Treat every match as a lead to verify, not as proof.

A note on the law, as general information rather than legal advice: getting into someone else's phone or online accounts without permission, reading their messages that way, secretly recording their calls with other people, or installing tracking or spy apps on their phone can be a crime, even between spouses or partners, and can also get you sued. CheckMate.bio's Terms of Use forbid using it to stalk, harass, threaten or intimidate anyone. Stick to what is public or what you're allowed to see.

If you're afraid for your safety, call your local emergency number (911 in the US). In the US, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. If you think someone is tracking your phone, talk to an advocate there before you remove anything: removing it can alert the person who installed it.

What the results actually mean

CheckMate.bio groups findings into categories ('Social Media', 'Gaming', 'Dating', 'Finance', 'Business' and more) and attaches a confidence score to every match. A score of 80% or higher means the email is almost certainly linked to that service. A score between 50% and 80% is a likely match. Anything below 50% lands in the 'Possible matches' section and should be treated as a weak signal, not a verdict.

• Categories show the kind of accounts that exist: the shape of someone's online footprint.
• Per-service fields (usernames, display names, bio text, last active dates) help you confirm whether the match is really the person you care about.
• Confidence scores help you separate solid matches from noise. Treat low-confidence hits as leads to investigate, not as proof.

A note on ethics

CheckMate.bio indexes public and breach-derived data. It does not grant access to private messages or full passwords (passwords from breach records are always masked), or to anything you wouldn't be able to find with enough patience and the right search queries. Use it for the same reasons you'd Google someone: safety, due diligence, re-connecting with people, or simply knowing what a public profile says about you. Be honest about your reasons, and respect the answer you get.