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Mount Pleasant 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.

Mount Pleasant Police Department starts at $60,611 a year — about $29.14 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $6,074 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $7,529 below the median for municipal agencies.

Cost of livingPrices in South Carolina run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $64,653 would somewhere at average prices — $4,041 more than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 80 against a national average of 100, where goods are 96. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro 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 isMount Pleasant Police Department reported 159 sworn officers and 24 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 96,727.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 Mount Pleasant says about itself

We are a nationally accredited agency, sanctioned by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. and became a flagship agency in 2005.

What Mount Pleasant does

The Mount Pleasant Police Department serves the Town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with 172 officer positions and 28 civilian positions for nearly 98,000 residents across eight patrol districts. It has been CALEA-accredited since 2005.

Where the figure comes from

Checked 19 September 2026. Town of Mount Pleasant "Join Our Team" page, starting salary with a high school diploma or honorable discharge — open the source document
Current page read 19 September 2026; no effective date printed. Education steps: associate's $62,108.80, bachelor's $63,606.40, master's $65,104.00.
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 Mount Pleasant sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.

LevelLowestMedianHighestAgencies
Municipal$33,280$68,140$163,6191549
County$35,000$63,565$132,263516
Special jurisdiction$31,200$60,204$107,95471
State$33,994$65,166$110,916145
Federal$70,477$73,502$86,5305
Territory$16,640$28,236$43,3549
What this shows

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. Mount Pleasant starts at $60,611, so $7,529 below the municipal middle.

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How it ranks

Nationally #1,526of 2,288 agencies Top 67% of everything we have verified
In SC #7of 27 agencies 20 pay less, 6 pay more
Hourly to start $29on a 2,080-hour year Base pay only, before overtime or any differential

Common questions

How much does a Mount Pleasant Police Department officer make?

Mount Pleasant Police Department starts a new officer on $60,611 a year, about $29.14 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 Mount Pleasant "Join Our Team" page, starting salary with a high school diploma or honorable discharge.

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

It ranks #7 of 27 agencies we have verified in South Carolina — 20 pay less, 6 pay more in the state — and #1,526 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $6,074 below, and against other municipal agencies $7,529 below.

Compare with another department

Put Mount Pleasant 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.

Compare Mount

The agencies either side of it

Other agencies in SC

Go
#AgencyLevelSworn #Entry payVs MountNational
1Myrtle Beach Police DepartmentMunicipal215$66,747+$6,136#1,142
2North Myrtle Beach Police DepartmentMunicipal98$62,000+$1,389#1,449
3South Carolina Highway PatrolState1,004$61,908+$1,297#1,454
4Horry County Police DepartmentCounty—$61,800+$1,189#1,461
5Rock Hill Police DepartmentMunicipal148$61,331+$720#1,484
6York County Sheriff's OfficeCounty223$61,081+$470#1,496
8Greenville County Sheriff's OfficeCounty576$59,273−$1,338#1,618
9Charleston Police DepartmentMunicipal419$58,115−$2,496#1,671
10Greenville Police DepartmentMunicipal219$57,353−$3,258#1,739
11University of South Carolina Police DepartmentSpecial jurisdiction6$56,696−$3,915#1,767
12North Charleston Police DepartmentMunicipal308$56,078−$4,533#1,794
13Berkeley County Sheriff's OfficeCounty305$55,975−$4,636#1,796

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