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South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division 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.
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division starts at $47,895 a year — about $23.03 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $18,790 below the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $17,271 below the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in South Carolina run about 6% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $51,089 would somewhere at average prices — $3,194 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.
What South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division says about itself
The core mission of the SCDNR's Law Enforcement Division is to conserve and protect the state's natural resources for social, economic, recreational, and commercial benefit while providing maximum human utilization; to preserve the peace and protect human lives and property; to develop public support through outreach, education, and safety programs; and to enforce the state's and federal criminal laws through the detection, apprehension, and prosecution of persons who violate those laws.
What South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division does
SCDNR Law Enforcement Officers enforce state and federal laws governing hunting, recreational and commercial fishing, boating and other natural-resource matters. State law grants the department's enforcement officers statewide authority for wildlife, marine and natural-resource laws.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 20 September 2026. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Officer Job Description — open the source document
$47,895. Current official recruiting information verified 8 August 2026 RE-READ 20 September 2026 AND CONFIRMED UNCHANGED: the Division still states in its own words that the SCDNR Law Enforcement Officer's starting salary is $47,895.00, and applies it to new officers without prior law-enforcement experience. No separate cadet, academy or certified rate is published alongside it.
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 South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division 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. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division starts at $47,895, so $17,271 below the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division officer make?
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division starts a new officer on $47,895 a year, about $23.03 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 South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Officer Job Description.
Is that good pay for a police officer in South Carolina?
It ranks #24 of 27 agencies we have verified in South Carolina — 3 pay less, 23 pay more in the state — and #2,150 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $18,790 below, and against other state agencies $17,271 below.
Compare with another department
Put South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division 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 South | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $66,747 | +$18,852 | #1,142 |
| 2 | North Myrtle Beach Police Department | Municipal | 98 | $62,000 | +$14,105 | #1,449 |
| 3 | South Carolina Highway Patrol | State | 1,004 | $61,908 | +$14,013 | #1,454 |
| 4 | Horry County Police Department | County | — | $61,800 | +$13,905 | #1,461 |
| 5 | Rock Hill Police Department | Municipal | 148 | $61,331 | +$13,436 | #1,484 |
| 6 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 223 | $61,081 | +$13,186 | #1,496 |
| 7 | Mount Pleasant Police Department | Municipal | 159 | $60,611 | +$12,716 | #1,526 |
| 8 | Greenville County Sheriff's Office | County | 576 | $59,273 | +$11,378 | #1,618 |
| 9 | Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 419 | $58,115 | +$10,220 | #1,671 |
| 10 | Greenville Police Department | Municipal | 219 | $57,353 | +$9,458 | #1,739 |
| 11 | University of South Carolina Police Department | Special jurisdiction | 6 | $56,696 | +$8,801 | #1,767 |
| 12 | North Charleston Police Department | Municipal | 308 | $56,078 | +$8,183 | #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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