South Carolina / Department of Social Services / Paralegal

Job-title file

Paralegal

Provide legal advice, draft and review documents, and represent the agency in legal matters.

15 employees hold this title in Department of Social Services. Median total compensation for the role is $50,279, below the department median of $55,264.

Employees: 15
Total payroll: $770.3K
Role median: $50,279
Agency median: $55,264
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$50,222$55,620+

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

How total compensation varies among the 15 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

Paralegal pay vs. South Carolina

Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 7,420 people — is $53,880. Department of Social Services pays a median base salary of $50,279 for this role, 7% below that figure — about the 38th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Department of Social Services sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$38,020

$46,630

$53,880

$61,620

$75,640

Department of Social Services median · $50,279

The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants 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 Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 392,880 people — is $62,890. Department of Social Services’s median base salary is 20% below that national figure, about the 25th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$44,740

$50,340

$62,890

$80,080

$101,500

Department of Social Services median · $50,279

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 $50,279, 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

Paralegal is held in 14 South Carolina departments. In Department of Social Services, the median of $50,279 ranks #13 of 14.

Highest-paying departments for this role

The Citadel

$62,818 · 1

Department of Revenue

$62,060 · 3

Attorney General's Office

$61,200 · 9

Department of Public Safety

$60,127 · 1

State Accident Fund

$57,747 · 4

Department of Public Health

$56,355 · 2

Department of Environmental Services

$55,064 · 3

Department of Insurance

$54,657 · 2

Department of Employment & Workforce

$53,991 · 2

Labor License & Regulation

$53,280 · 7

Behavioral Health & Development Disab

$52,612 · 1

Office of the State Treasurer

$50,872 · 1

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

Compare jurisdictions

Paralegal beyond South Carolina

This role is reported in 25 jurisdictions. In South Carolina, the median of $54,000 ranks #13 of 25. See Paralegal across all of South Carolina →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

$142,972 · 240

$139,527 · 57

$99,348 · 11

$90,144 · 40

$70,099 · 8

$64,921 · 26

$62,050 · 73

Johnson County, Kansas

$60,924 · 15

Median total compensation for comparable Paralegalroles 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