Law Enforcement (LEO) Payscale in South Carolina for 2023
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 18.63% 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 | $36,678 | $37,697 | $38,716 | $39,735 | $40,754 | $41,773 | $42,792 | $43,811 | $44,830 | $45,849 |
LEO-4 | $41,171 | $42,314 | $43,458 | $44,601 | $45,745 | $46,889 | $48,032 | $49,176 | $50,319 | $51,463 |
LEO-5 | $47,345 | $48,625 | $49,905 | $51,185 | $52,465 | $53,745 | $55,025 | $56,305 | $57,585 | $58,865 |
LEO-6 | $49,920 | $51,345 | $52,771 | $54,197 | $55,623 | $57,049 | $58,475 | $59,901 | $61,327 | $62,753 |
LEO-7 | $53,889 | $55,474 | $57,059 | $58,644 | $60,228 | $61,813 | $63,398 | $64,983 | $66,568 | $68,153 |
LEO-8 | $56,170 | $57,926 | $59,682 | $61,437 | $63,193 | $64,949 | $66,704 | $68,460 | $70,216 | $71,972 |
LEO-9 | $60,100 | $62,039 | $63,977 | $65,916 | $67,854 | $69,792 | $71,731 | $73,669 | $75,608 | $77,546 |
LEO-10 | $66,184 | $68,319 | $70,454 | $72,590 | $74,725 | $76,860 | $78,996 | $81,131 | $83,266 | $85,402 |
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 16.5% (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 | $36,019 | $37,020 | $38,021 | $39,022 | $40,022 | $41,023 | $42,024 | $43,025 | $44,025 | $45,026 |
LEO-4 | $40,431 | $41,554 | $42,677 | $43,801 | $44,924 | $46,047 | $47,170 | $48,293 | $49,416 | $50,539 |
LEO-5 | $46,495 | $47,752 | $49,009 | $50,266 | $51,523 | $52,780 | $54,037 | $55,294 | $56,551 | $57,808 |
LEO-6 | $49,023 | $50,424 | $51,824 | $53,224 | $54,625 | $56,025 | $57,425 | $58,826 | $60,226 | $61,626 |
LEO-7 | $52,921 | $54,478 | $56,034 | $57,591 | $59,147 | $60,703 | $62,260 | $63,816 | $65,373 | $66,929 |
LEO-8 | $55,162 | $56,886 | $58,610 | $60,334 | $62,058 | $63,783 | $65,507 | $67,231 | $68,955 | $70,679 |
LEO-9 | $59,021 | $60,925 | $62,828 | $64,732 | $66,636 | $68,539 | $70,443 | $72,347 | $74,250 | $76,154 |
LEO-10 | $64,995 | $67,092 | $69,189 | $71,286 | $73,383 | $75,480 | $77,577 | $79,674 | $81,771 | $83,868 |
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 $183,500 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.