FederalPay.org
FederalPay.org
Law Enforcement (LEO) Payscale in South Carolina for 2022
The Law Enforcement (LEO) payscale is the federal government payscale used to determine the salaries of over 70% of federal civilian employees.
Like the General Schedule (GS) Payscale, under the LEO payscale an employee's base pay depends on two factors - the LEO Paygrade of their job, and the Paygrade Step they have achieved (depending on seniority or performance). This base pay is then modified based on a "Locality Pay Adjustment", which adjusts the LEO payscale based on cost-of-living in different areas within the United States.
South Carolina has one or more Locality Pay Adjustment areas with special locality pay adjustment rates. This page lists the locality-adjusted yearly LEO pay scales for each area, with starting pay for a LEO-1 broken down by county in the interactive map.
The CHARLOTTE-CONCORD, NC-SC General Schedule locality region applies to government employees who work in Charlotte and surrounding areas. General Schedule employees who work within this region are paid 18.06% more than the GS base pay rates to account for local cost of living.
| LEO Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEO-3 | $35,063 | $36,037 | $37,011 | $37,985 | $38,959 | $39,933 | $40,907 | $41,881 | $42,855 | $43,829 |
| LEO-4 | $39,359 | $40,452 | $41,545 | $42,639 | $43,732 | $44,825 | $45,918 | $47,011 | $48,105 | $49,198 |
| LEO-5 | $45,258 | $46,481 | $47,705 | $48,928 | $50,151 | $51,374 | $52,597 | $53,820 | $55,043 | $56,266 |
| LEO-6 | $47,725 | $49,088 | $50,452 | $51,815 | $53,179 | $54,543 | $55,906 | $57,270 | $58,633 | $59,997 |
| LEO-7 | $51,515 | $53,030 | $54,545 | $56,060 | $57,574 | $59,089 | $60,604 | $62,118 | $63,633 | $65,148 |
| LEO-8 | $53,697 | $55,375 | $57,052 | $58,730 | $60,408 | $62,085 | $63,763 | $65,441 | $67,118 | $68,796 |
| LEO-9 | $57,456 | $59,310 | $61,163 | $63,017 | $64,870 | $66,724 | $68,578 | $70,431 | $72,285 | $74,138 |
| LEO-10 | $63,272 | $65,313 | $67,354 | $69,396 | $71,437 | $73,478 | $75,519 | $77,561 | $79,602 | $81,643 |
The Charlotte locality pay rates also apply to federal workers in the following major cities: and other areas within the region.
Any federal employees in South Carolina who do not live in an area for which a specific Locality Pay Adjustment has been set will receive the generic "Rest of the United States" locality pay adjustment of 16.2% (shown in the table below).
| LEO Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEO-3 | $34,510 | $35,469 | $36,428 | $37,386 | $38,345 | $39,303 | $40,262 | $41,221 | $42,179 | $43,138 |
| LEO-4 | $38,739 | $39,815 | $40,891 | $41,967 | $43,043 | $44,119 | $45,195 | $46,271 | $47,347 | $48,423 |
| LEO-5 | $44,545 | $45,749 | $46,953 | $48,157 | $49,361 | $50,564 | $51,768 | $52,972 | $54,176 | $55,380 |
| LEO-6 | $46,973 | $48,315 | $49,657 | $50,999 | $52,341 | $53,683 | $55,025 | $56,367 | $57,710 | $59,052 |
| LEO-7 | $50,704 | $52,195 | $53,686 | $55,176 | $56,667 | $58,158 | $59,649 | $61,140 | $62,631 | $64,121 |
| LEO-8 | $52,851 | $54,502 | $56,154 | $57,805 | $59,456 | $61,107 | $62,758 | $64,410 | $66,061 | $67,712 |
| LEO-9 | $56,551 | $58,375 | $60,200 | $62,024 | $63,848 | $65,673 | $67,497 | $69,321 | $71,146 | $72,970 |
| LEO-10 | $62,275 | $64,284 | $66,293 | $68,302 | $70,311 | $72,321 | $74,330 | $76,339 | $78,348 | $80,357 |
The Rest of U.S. locality pay rates also apply to federal workers in the following major cities: Beaufort, Charleston, Columbia, Goose Creek, North Charleston, Sumter, Parris Island, and other areas within the region.
* For some high-paygrade workers, pay under the GS scale may be capped at $176,300 the SES (Senior Executive Scale)'s Level 4 pay for the current year (5 U.S.C. 5304 (g)(1)).
Join the our free mailing list to receive an update when 2025 rates are available.