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Charleston County Sheriff's Office entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Charleston County Sheriff's Office starts at $54,471 a year — about $26.19 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $12,214 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $9,089 below the median for county agencies.
What Charleston County says about itself
To serve our community by helping to provide a safe environment for citizens to live, work, and raise families, and enhance their quality of life by providing excellent law enforcement services, and always seeking to promote mutual trust and respect.
What Charleston County does
Charleston County Sheriff's Office describes itself as one of South Carolina's largest full-service sheriff's offices, serving a complex and diverse population. Its operations include patrol and traffic, investigations, school resource officers, community engagement, judicial security and enforcement and detention, with accreditation reflecting its commitment to improving law-enforcement service.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Charleston County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Sheriff recruitment site: "Base Pay $54,471 - $68,515 (Estimated Annual Salary)" — open the source document
RE-SOURCED 20 September 2026 off GovernmentJobs and onto the Sheriff's Office's own recruitment site, ccsojobs.com, and the figure moves $4 with it, from $54,475 to $54,471. The Office publishes 'Base Pay $54,471 - $68,515 (Estimated Annual Salary)' for Deputy Sheriff. THE ENTRY TEST: the Office prices NO separate salary for certified versus uncertified new hires - certification changes only the length of field training, which it sets at at least four weeks for in-state certified officers, at least six for out-of-state certified officers and at least twelve for recently certified officers, and all recruits must complete the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. So the bottom of the band is what a candidate with no prior service is paid. $68,515 is the top of the band and is a ceiling. Excluded: the education additions of $1,000 for an associate's degree, $2,000 for a bachelor's and $3,000 for a master's; longevity raises at one, two, three, four, five and ten years and every five years after ten; and merit raises, which begin at six years. THE BAND CARRIES NO EFFECTIVE DATE and the Office calls it an estimate, which is the weakness here. NEXT DOCUMENT: the Charleston County pay plan.
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where Charleston County sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Charleston County starts at $54,471, so $9,094 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Charleston County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Charleston County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $54,471 a year, about $26.19 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from Charleston County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Sheriff recruitment site: "Base Pay $54,471 - $68,515 (Estimated Annual Salary)".
Is that good pay for a police officer in South Carolina?
It ranks #15 of 27 agencies we have verified in South Carolina — 12 pay less, 14 pay more in the state — and #1,891 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,214 below, and against other county agencies $9,089 below.
Compare with another department
Put Charleston County Sheriff's Office side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in SC
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Charleston | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $66,747 | +$12,276 | #1,142 |
| 2 | North Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 98 | $62,000 | +$7,529 | #1,449 |
| 3 | South Carolina Highway Patrol | State | 1,004 | $61,908 | +$7,437 | #1,454 |
| 4 | Horry County Police Department | County | — | $61,800 | +$7,329 | #1,461 |
| 5 | Rock Hill Police Department | Municipal | 148 | $61,331 | +$6,860 | #1,484 |
| 6 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 223 | $61,081 | +$6,610 | #1,496 |
| 7 | Mount Pleasant Police Department | Municipal | 159 | $60,611 | +$6,140 | #1,526 |
| 8 | Greenville County Sheriff's Office | County | 576 | $59,273 | +$4,802 | #1,618 |
| 9 | Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 419 | $58,115 | +$3,644 | #1,671 |
| 10 | Greenville Police Department | Municipal | 219 | $57,353 | +$2,882 | #1,739 |
| 11 | University of South Carolina Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 6 | $56,696 | +$2,225 | #1,767 |
| 12 | North Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 308 | $56,078 | +$1,607 | #1,794 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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