Law Enforcement Officer VII

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

5 employees hold this title in Department of Public Safety. Median total compensation for the role is $152,500, above the department median of $73,444.

Employees: 5
Total payroll: $762.5K
Role median: $152,500
Agency median: $73,444
Comparison: Above

Compared with the local labor market

Law Enforcement Officer VII 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 $25,000 in 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 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 Officer 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 Public Safety

Record list