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Horry County 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.
Horry County Police Department starts at $61,800 a year — about $29.71 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $4,885 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $1,760 below the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $65,996 would somewhere at average prices — $4,196 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 83 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.
What Horry County says about itself
Established as the primary county law enforcement agency in 1959, the Horry County Police Department is the only county police department in the State of South Carolina. Compassionately serving our community through partnerships and professionalism.
What Horry County does
Horry County Police Department splits the county into five precincts for quicker service and closer community relations, and describes its approach as compassionately serving the community through partnerships and professionalism. Established as the primary county law enforcement agency in 1959 by legislative decree and re-endorsed by referendum in 1998, it is the only remaining county police department in South Carolina
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. Horry County Police Department, Hiring and Recruiting: "Patrol Officer (Class I) Starting Salary: $61,800 (Effective July 2026)" — open the source document
Their source is effective 1 July 2026.
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 Horry 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. Horry County starts at $61,800, so $1,765 below the county middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Horry County Police Department officer make?
Horry County Police Department starts a new officer on $61,800 a year, about $29.71 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 Horry County Police Department, Hiring and Recruiting: "Patrol Officer (Class I) Starting Salary: $61,800 (Effective July 2026)".
Is that good pay for a police officer in South Carolina?
It ranks #4 of 27 agencies we have verified in South Carolina — 23 pay less, 3 pay more in the state — and #1,461 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $4,885 below, and against other county agencies $1,760 below.
Compare with another department
Put Horry County 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 Horry | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $66,747 | +$4,947 | #1,142 |
| 2 | North Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 98 | $62,000 | +$200 | #1,449 |
| 3 | South Carolina Highway Patrol | State | 1,004 | $61,908 | +$108 | #1,454 |
| 5 | Rock Hill Police Department | Municipal | 148 | $61,331 | −$469 | #1,484 |
| 6 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 223 | $61,081 | −$719 | #1,496 |
| 7 | Mount Pleasant Police Department | Municipal | 159 | $60,611 | −$1,189 | #1,526 |
| 8 | Greenville County Sheriff's Office | County | 576 | $59,273 | −$2,527 | #1,618 |
| 9 | Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 419 | $58,115 | −$3,685 | #1,671 |
| 10 | Greenville Police Department | Municipal | 219 | $57,353 | −$4,447 | #1,739 |
| 11 | University of South Carolina Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 6 | $56,696 | −$5,104 | #1,767 |
| 12 | North Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 308 | $56,078 | −$5,722 | #1,794 |
| 13 | Berkeley County Sheriff's Office | County | 305 | $55,975 | −$5,825 | #1,796 |
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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