South Carolina / Department of Environmental Services / Chemist III

Job-title file

Chemist III

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

10 employees hold this title in Department of Environmental Services. Median total compensation for the role is $70,304, above the department median of $66,315.

Employees: 10
Total payroll: $710.9K
Role median: $70,304
Agency median: $66,315
Comparison: Above

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$70,304$76,725+

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

How total compensation varies among the 10 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

Chemist III pay vs. South Carolina

Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Chemists — about 770 people — is $79,670. Department of Environmental Services pays a median base salary of $63,337 for this role, 21% below that figure — about the 23rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Department of Environmental Services sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$54,420

$64,860

$79,670

$105,820

$139,570

Department of Environmental Services median · $63,337

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

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Chemists — about 82,770 people — is $91,240. Department of Environmental Services’s median base salary is 31% below that national figure, about the 17th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$58,460

$69,460

$91,240

$125,550

$160,830

Department of Environmental Services median · $63,337

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 Environmental Services is $63,337, 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

Chemist III is held in 4 South Carolina departments. In Department of Environmental Services, the median of $70,304 ranks #3 of 4.

Highest-paying departments for this role

University of South Carolina

$88,808 · 2

Department of Agriculture

$73,200 · 3

Department of Public Health

$68,340 · 1

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

Compare jurisdictions

Chemist beyond South Carolina

This role is reported in 16 jurisdictions. In South Carolina, the median of $63,337 ranks #10 of 16. See Chemist across all of South Carolina →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

City and County of San Francisco

$178,405 · 40

$132,127 · 18

$119,753 · 11

$112,907 · 89

$108,620 · 7

$74,235 · 6

$70,150 · 32

$68,709 · 136

Median total compensation for comparable Chemist 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 Environmental Services

Record list