Lexington Police Department entry pay

What Lexington says about itself

The men and women of the Police Department are committed to the philosophy of community oriented policing and strive to build partnerships in all facets of our community.

What Lexington does

The Lexington Police Department serves the town of Lexington, South Carolina, in Lexington County west of Columbia, from 111 Maiden Lane. It describes its foremost concern as the protection of its citizens and merchants and the security of their homes and businesses, and runs a Patrol Division and a Community Action Team among its divisions. Non-certified officers are hired on a published ladder that rises at six months and again at one year, with a $2,500 sign-on bonus paid in three parts across hire, South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy certification and the six months after graduation, and a 1.5 per cent uplift for applicants holding an associate degree, military service or a public-safety background.

Where the figure comes from

Checked 21 September 2026. Town of Lexington, Employment Opportunities — Police Officer Recruit: "Starting Salary: $54,491 with a $2,500 sign-on bonus." — open the source document
$54,491 is the Town's own annual figure and no arithmetic has been applied to it. THE STEPS ABOVE IT ARE TIME-GATED, NOT ACADEMY-GATED, WHICH IS WHAT MAKES THIS THE ENTRY FIGURE: the Town states the salary for a non-certified applicant is $56,307 AFTER SIX MONTHS and $59,334 AFTER ONE YEAR. Neither is triggered by finishing the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, so the starting salary covers the academy and the first six months - the same reading applied to Smyrna GA, Dublin OH and Jenks, and the opposite of North Myrtle Beach and Berkeley County, where the higher rate lands on graduation itself. Trainee class: NOT PRICED separately. Excluded from the figure: the $2,500 sign-on bonus, which the Town pays in three parts - $500 at hire, $1,000 on completing SCCJA Class I certification and $1,000 six months after graduating - and the 1.5 per cent uplift to $55,308 for a non-certified applicant holding an associate degree, military service or a public-safety background, which is a credential premium on the same entry rather than a different class. THE FIGURE CARRIES NO EFFECTIVE DATE. NEXT DOCUMENT: the Town of Lexington pay plan or adopted budget. NAME TRAP, AND IT MATTERS HERE: this is the TOWN of Lexington's own police department, 111 Maiden Lane. The LEXINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT is a separate and much larger agency already on the roster at $51,293.84, and there are Lexingtons with their own departments in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
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 Lexington sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.

How it ranks

Common questions

How much does a Lexington Police Department officer make?

Lexington Police Department starts a new officer on $54,491 a year, about $26.20 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 Town of Lexington, Employment Opportunities — Police Officer Recruit: "Starting Salary: $54,491 with a $2,500 sign-on bonus.".

Is that good pay for a police officer in South Carolina?

It ranks #14 of 27 agencies we have verified in South Carolina — 13 pay less, 13 pay more in the state — and #1,890 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $12,194 below, and against other municipal agencies $13,649 below.

The agencies either side of it