South Carolina / Department of Public Safety / Law Enforcement Officer III

Job-title file

Law Enforcement Officer III

Enforce laws and maintain public safety — patrol, respond to incidents, investigate crimes, and make arrests.

407 employees hold this title in Department of Public Safety. Median total compensation for the role is $72,044, below the department median of $73,444.

Employees: 407
Total payroll: $29.6M
Role median: $72,044
Agency median: $73,444
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$63,491$80,622+

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

How total compensation varies among the 407 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

Law Enforcement Officer III pay vs. South Carolina

Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — about 12,930 people — is $58,070. Department of Public Safety pays a median base salary of $76,946 for this role, 33% above that figure — about the 87th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Department of Public Safety sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$45,060

$48,570

$58,070

$68,190

$78,760

Department of Public Safety median · $76,946

The bar is the range of annual wages for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers across every employer in South Carolina, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Public Safety’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — about 670,520 people — is $76,210. Department of Public Safety’s median base salary is in line withthat national figure, about the 51st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$47,510

$59,290

$76,210

$97,600

$115,120

Department of Public Safety median · $76,946

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.

Computed over the 975 of 976 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Department of Public Safety is $76,946, 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 departments

This role across South Carolina

Law Enforcement Officer III is held in 33 South Carolina departments. In Department of Public Safety, the median of $72,044 ranks #22 of 33.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Denmark Technical College

$88,047 · 1

Lander University

$85,490 · 2

Winthrop University

$84,246 · 1

Gov Sch for Science & Math

$80,925 · 1

School for the Deaf and Blind

$80,842 · 1

Clemson University

$78,435 · 6

Governor's Off-Sled

$77,837 · 170

Coastal Carolina University

$77,781 · 6

Medical University of SC

$76,832 · 10

Tri-County Technical College

$74,649 · 1

University of South Carolina

$74,215 · 27

Department of Nat. Resources

$73,737 · 138

Median total compensation for the Law Enforcement Officer III role in other South Carolinadepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Law Enforcement Officer beyond South Carolina

This role is reported in 3 jurisdictions. In South Carolina, the median of $74,011 ranks #1 of 3. See Law Enforcement Officer across all of South Carolina →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

Florida

$62,187 · 495

Missouri

$4,215 · 22

Median total compensation for comparable Law Enforcement Officerroles 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.

Record list