Wildlife Biologist I

Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.

13 employees hold this title in Department of Nat. Resources. Median total compensation for the role is $53,024, below the department median of $68,891.

Employees: 13
Total payroll: $698.1K
Role median: $53,024
Agency median: $68,891
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$51,319$56,739+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How total compensation varies among the 13 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Compared with the local labor market

Wildlife Biologist I pay vs. South Carolina

Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists — about 250 people — is $64,090. Department of Nat. Resources pays a median base salary of $62,411 for this role, 3% below that figure — about the 46th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Department of Nat. Resources sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$46,740

$53,290

$64,090

$80,890

$111,830

Department of Nat. Resources median · $62,411

The bar is the range of annual wages for Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists across every employer in South Carolina, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Nat. Resources’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists — about 18,120 people — is $76,780. Department of Nat. Resources’s median base salary is 19% below that national figure, about the 27th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$49,100

$61,180

$76,780

$96,100

$126,440

Department of Nat. Resources median · $62,411

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the South Carolina range relative to the national one.

Median total compensation for this role at Department of Nat. Resources is $62,411, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare jurisdictions

Wildlife Biologist beyond South Carolina

This role is reported in 4 jurisdictions. In South Carolina, the median of $62,411 ranks #2 of 4. See Wildlife Biologist across all of South Carolina →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

Utah

$66,725 · 247

Georgia

$57,500 · 66

Missouri

$50,600 · 83

Median total compensation for comparable Wildlife Biologist roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.

Same department

Other job titles in Department of Nat. Resources

Record list