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Police pay in South Carolina
Entry pay in South Carolina runs from $44,357 to $66,747 a year. Verified at 27 agencies, each figure taken from that employer's own published document and dated on its page.
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.
The middle South Carolina agency starts officers on $54,491, below the national middle of $66,706 — 46th of the 50 states we can rank.
How South Carolina compares
Every figure below is a starting salary — what an agency pays an officer in their first year, before overtime. Each one is the middle agency of its group: half pay more, half pay less.
| Agencies compared | Middle SC agency | Middle US agency | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All agencies | $54,491 | $66,706 | −18% |
| City departments | $54,491 | $68,140 | −20% |
| Sheriff's offices | $55,975 | $63,565 | −12% |
The best-paid agency in South Carolina starts officers on 1.5 times what the lowest-paid one does — $66,747 against $44,357. Overall, South Carolina ranks 46th of the 50 states we can rank.
By level
Municipal16 agencies
Lowest$44,357
Middle$54,491
Highest$66,747
Across 16 city departments in South Carolina.
Sheriff8 agencies
Lowest$49,942
Middle$55,975
Highest$61,800
Across 8 sheriff's offices in South Carolina.
State2 agencies
South Carolina Highway Patrol$61,908
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources — Law Enforcement Division$47,895
Only two verified here, so we name them rather than give a middle figure.
Special jurisdiction1 agency
University of South Carolina Police Department$56,696
Only one verified here, so we name it rather than give a middle figure.
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Every South Carolina agency we have verified
Across the state line
What the middle agency starts on in the states South Carolina borders.
Also: Every agency we have verified The statistics Municipal departments Sheriff's offices
Figures checked between 8 August 2026 and 21 September 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 the figure shown. Where an agency publishes both an academy rate and a post-academy rate, the post-academy rate is used. A missing agency has not been checked, not found to pay less.
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