South Carolina / Department of Social Services / Hearings Officer

Job-title file

Hearings Officer

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

7 employees hold this title in Department of Social Services. Median total compensation for the role is $63,515, above the department median of $55,264.

Employees: 7
Total payroll: $468.6K
Role median: $63,515
Agency median: $55,264
Comparison: Above

Compared with the local labor market

Hearings Officer pay vs. South Carolina

Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers — about 130 people — is $94,880. Department of Social Services pays a median base salary of $63,515 for this role, 33% below that figure — about the 26th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Department of Social Services sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$55,480

$62,830

$94,880

$129,960

$207,480

Department of Social Services median · $63,515

The bar is the range of annual wages for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers across every employer in South Carolina, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Social Services’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers — about 16,370 people — is $117,860. Department of Social Services’s median base salary is 46% below that national figure, about the 12th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$61,110

$81,140

$117,860

$159,680

$207,480

Department of Social Services median · $63,515

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 Social Services is $63,515, 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

Hearings Officer is held in 6 South Carolina departments. In Department of Social Services, the median of $63,515 ranks #5 of 6.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Department of Prob, Parole & Pardon

$78,170 · 11

Department of Health and Human Services

$73,049 · 4

SC Department Juvenile Justice

$64,113 · 1

Department of Employment & Workforce

$64,095 · 16

Department of Corrections

$57,770 · 10

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

Compare jurisdictions

Hearings Officer beyond South Carolina

This role is reported in 3 jurisdictions. In South Carolina, the median of $67,677 ranks #3 of 3. See Hearings Officer across all of South Carolina →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

Missouri

$90,603 · 40

Texas

$68,796 · 146

Median total compensation for comparable Hearings 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