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Greenville Police Department 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.
Greenville Police Department starts at $57,353 a year — about $27.57 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $11,037 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $13,911 below the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC run about 7% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $61,498 would somewhere at average prices — $4,145 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 77 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. Based on price levels for this metropolitan area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isGreenville Police Department reported 219 sworn officers and 37 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 2.9 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 75,127.A rate is only meaningful for a city department, where the population served is the city’s own. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
What Greenville says about itself
The mission of the Greenville Police Department is to collaborate with our community to prevent crime, promote safety and enhance the quality of life. Our vision is to be the most effective community-focused police agency in America.
What Greenville does
Greenville Police Department states its vision as being the most effective community-focused police agency in America, and has been nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies since March 1995. Its work is framed by a five-year strategic plan and a community problem-oriented policing plan, and it runs a free twelve-week citizens' academy, an ElderCare welfare-check service and the GRAVITY programme for at-risk youth
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. City of Greenville official 2026 Polic — open the source document
Opened 2 March 2026. The position is explicitly an entry-level recruit job for people without prior law-enforcement experience and pays $57,353.40 annually. Recruits obtain Class 1 certification through SCCJA and continue through field/probationary training. Certified/lateral pay and add-ons are excluded
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.
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How this level compares
Where Greenville 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 | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| 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 $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Greenville starts at $57,353, so $13,934 below the municipal middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Greenville Police Department officer make?
Greenville Police Department starts a new officer on $57,353 a year, about $27.57 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 City of Greenville official 2026 Polic.
Is that good pay for a police officer in South Carolina?
It ranks #5 of 16 agencies we have verified in South Carolina — 11 pay less, 4 pay more in the state — and #1,364 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $11,037 below, and against other municipal agencies $13,911 below.
Compare with another department
Put Greenville Police Department 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 Greenville | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $66,747 | +$9,394 | #935 |
| 2 | South Carolina Highway Patrol | State | 1,004 | $60,761 | +$3,408 | #1,205 |
| 3 | North Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 98 | $60,000 | +$2,647 | #1,244 |
| 4 | Greenville County Sheriff's Office | County | 576 | $59,273 | +$1,920 | #1,277 |
| 6 | University of South Carolina Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 6 | $56,696 | −$657 | #1,379 |
| 7 | Berkeley County Sheriff's Office | County | 305 | $54,878 | −$2,476 | #1,442 |
| 8 | Charleston County Sheriff's Office | County | — | $54,475 | −$2,878 | #1,454 |
| 9 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 223 | $54,122 | −$3,232 | #1,460 |
| 10 | Lexington County Sheriff's Department | County | 296 | $53,351 | −$4,002 | #1,489 |
| 11 | Horry County Police Department | County | 87 | $53,022 | −$4,332 | #1,496 |
| 12 | Beaufort County Sheriff's Office | County | 212 | $50,107 | −$7,246 | #1,560 |
| 13 | Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office | County | 333 | $49,942 | −$7,411 | #1,570 |
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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