Occupations · Business and Financial Operations
Financial Examiners
Enforce or ensure compliance with laws and regulations governing financial and securities institutions and financial and real estate transactions. May examine, verify, or authenticate records.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 13-2061.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
Pay over time
Median up 53% between 2003 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $131,670 | 11,310 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $78,930 | 2,860 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $102,190 | 2,380 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $102,780 | 1,650 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $101,630 | 1,440 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | $77,600 | 1,420 |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | $101,020 | 1,370 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $95,230 | 1,200 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $76,890 | 1,170 |
| Cleveland, OH | $49,100 | 1,170 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $139,790 | 1,130 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $89,220 | 1,130 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 12 areas with the most people in this occupation
Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Direct and participate in formal and informal meetings with bank directors, trustees, senior management, counsels, outside accountants, and consultants to gather information and discuss findings.
- Recommend actions to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, or to protect solvency of institutions.
- Prepare reports, exhibits, and other supporting schedules that detail an institution's safety and soundness, compliance with laws and regulations, and recommended solutions to questionable financial conditions.
- Resolve problems concerning the overall financial integrity of banking institutions including loan investment portfolios, capital, earnings, and specific or large troubled accounts.
- Investigate activities of institutions to enforce laws and regulations and to ensure legality of transactions and operations or financial solvency.
- Review balance sheets, operating income and expense accounts, and loan documentation to confirm institution assets and liabilities.
- Plan, supervise, and review work of assigned subordinates.
- Review audit reports of internal and external auditors to monitor adequacy of scope of reports or to discover specific weaknesses in internal routines.
- Examine the minutes of meetings of directors, stockholders, and committees to investigate the specific authority extended at various levels of management.
- Train other examiners in the financial examination process.
- Establish guidelines for procedures and policies that comply with new and revised regulations and direct their implementation.
- Review and analyze new, proposed, or revised laws, regulations, policies, and procedures to interpret their meaning and determine their impact.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2020-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2020-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning. 1 entries that were only relabelled between releases are left out.
Now listed 6
No longer listed 7
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| financial auditor | 2411.1.7 | exact |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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