FederalPay.org
FederalPay.org
Law Enforcement (LEO) Payscale in South Carolina for 2025
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 19.67% 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 | $39,393 | $40,487 | $41,581 | $42,674 | $43,768 | $44,862 | $45,956 | $47,049 | $48,143 | $49,237 |
| LEO-4 | $44,226 | $45,455 | $46,684 | $47,913 | $49,142 | $50,371 | $51,601 | $52,830 | $54,059 | $55,288 |
| LEO-5 | $50,848 | $52,222 | $53,595 | $54,969 | $56,343 | $57,717 | $59,091 | $60,464 | $61,838 | $63,212 |
| LEO-6 | $53,621 | $55,152 | $56,684 | $58,216 | $59,748 | $61,279 | $62,811 | $64,343 | $65,875 | $67,407 |
| LEO-7 | $57,886 | $59,588 | $61,291 | $62,994 | $64,697 | $66,400 | $68,103 | $69,806 | $71,509 | $73,212 |
| LEO-8 | $60,334 | $62,220 | $64,106 | $65,992 | $67,878 | $69,764 | $71,650 | $73,536 | $75,422 | $77,308 |
| LEO-9 | $64,556 | $66,638 | $68,720 | $70,803 | $72,885 | $74,967 | $77,050 | $79,132 | $81,214 | $83,296 |
| LEO-10 | $71,090 | $73,383 | $75,676 | $77,969 | $80,261 | $82,554 | $84,847 | $87,140 | $89,433 | $91,726 |
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 17.06% (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 | $38,534 | $39,604 | $40,674 | $41,744 | $42,814 | $43,883 | $44,953 | $46,023 | $47,093 | $48,163 |
| LEO-4 | $43,262 | $44,464 | $45,666 | $46,868 | $48,071 | $49,273 | $50,475 | $51,677 | $52,880 | $54,082 |
| LEO-5 | $49,739 | $51,083 | $52,426 | $53,770 | $55,114 | $56,458 | $57,802 | $59,146 | $60,490 | $61,833 |
| LEO-6 | $52,451 | $53,949 | $55,448 | $56,946 | $58,445 | $59,943 | $61,441 | $62,940 | $64,438 | $65,936 |
| LEO-7 | $56,623 | $58,289 | $59,955 | $61,620 | $63,286 | $64,952 | $66,618 | $68,283 | $69,949 | $71,615 |
| LEO-8 | $59,018 | $60,863 | $62,708 | $64,553 | $66,398 | $68,242 | $70,087 | $71,932 | $73,777 | $75,622 |
| LEO-9 | $63,148 | $65,185 | $67,222 | $69,259 | $71,295 | $73,332 | $75,369 | $77,406 | $79,443 | $81,480 |
| LEO-10 | $69,539 | $71,782 | $74,025 | $76,268 | $78,511 | $80,754 | $82,997 | $85,240 | $87,482 | $89,725 |
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 $195,200 the SES (Senior Executive Scale)'s Level 4 pay for the current year (5 U.S.C. 5304 (g)(1)).
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