Compare South Carolina sheriff department costs
Sheriff department cost and staffing across all 46 counties. Click a column header to sort. Hover a column header to see what it measures. Data as of 2026-07-24.
| County | Population | Budget | $/resident | Sworn / 100k res | Custody / 100k res | Beds / 100k res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeville County | 24,368 | — | — | 180.6 | 53.3 | — |
| Aiken County | 169,865 | — | — | 98.3 | 43.6 | — |
| Allendale County | 8,073 | — | — | 173.4 | 235.4 | — |
| Anderson County | 204,592 | — | — | 122.2 | 45.5 | — |
| Bamberg County | 13,311 | — | — | 112.7 | 127.7 | — |
| Barnwell County | 20,653 | — | — | 193.7 | 217.9 | — |
| Beaufort County | 189,071 | — | — | 110.0 | 30.7 | — |
| Berkeley County | 231,419 | — | — | 99.8 | 32.8 | — |
| Calhoun County | 14,145 | — | — | 183.8 | 0.0 | — |
| Charleston County | 409,840 | — | — | 67.1 | 66.6 | — |
| Cherokee County | 56,200 | — | — | 103.2 | 67.6 | — |
| Chester County | 32,171 | — | — | 211.4 | 96.4 | — |
| Chesterfield County | 43,536 | — | — | 144.7 | 75.8 | — |
| Clarendon County | 31,163 | — | — | 218.2 | 128.4 | — |
| Colleton County | 38,561 | — | — | 155.6 | 59.6 | — |
| Darlington County | 63,025 | — | — | 114.2 | 90.4 | — |
| Dillon County | 28,255 | — | — | 233.6 | 134.5 | — |
| Dorchester County | 162,139 | — | — | 115.3 | 50.0 | — |
| Edgefield County | 26,181 | — | — | 141.3 | 72.6 | — |
| Fairfield County | 20,942 | — | — | 205.3 | 114.6 | — |
| Florence County | 137,015 | — | — | 100.7 | 51.1 | — |
| Georgetown County | 63,594 | — | — | 143.1 | 50.3 | — |
| Greenville County | 528,251 | — | — | 83.5 | 66.4 | — |
| Greenwood County | 69,309 | — | — | 111.1 | 37.5 | — |
| Hampton County | 18,890 | — | — | 217.0 | 95.3 | — |
| Horry County | 356,578 | — | — | 98.4 | 73.8 | — |
| Jasper County | 29,444 | — | — | 149.4 | 84.9 | — |
| Kershaw County | 65,779 | — | — | 126.2 | 45.6 | — |
| Lancaster County | 97,611 | — | — | 144.5 | 27.7 | — |
| Laurens County | 67,456 | — | — | 108.2 | 69.7 | — |
| Lee County | 16,557 | — | — | 175.2 | 0.0 | — |
| Lexington County | 295,934 | — | — | 80.1 | 36.8 | — |
| Marion County | 29,212 | — | — | 154.0 | 102.7 | — |
| Marlboro County | 26,585 | — | — | 94.0 | 52.7 | — |
| McCormick County | 9,612 | — | — | 218.5 | 176.9 | — |
| Newberry County | 37,918 | — | — | 142.4 | 81.8 | — |
| Oconee County | 78,775 | — | — | 148.5 | 58.4 | — |
| Orangeburg County | 84,159 | — | — | 115.3 | 29.7 | — |
| Pickens County | 131,106 | — | — | 70.2 | 45.0 | — |
| Richland County | 416,161 | — | — | 152.1 | 31.5 | — |
| Saluda County | 18,952 | — | — | 131.9 | 84.4 | — |
| Spartanburg County | 330,119 | — | — | 108.1 | 66.9 | — |
| Sumter County | 105,199 | — | — | 113.1 | 43.7 | — |
| Union County | 27,158 | — | — | 154.7 | 132.6 | — |
| Williamsburg County | 30,879 | — | — | 0.0 | 90.7 | — |
| York County | 282,987 | — | — | 78.4 | 40.3 | — |
A note on data vintages and definitions. Population is the US Census Bureau's 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimate. Sheriff staffing comes from the US Census Bureau's Census of Governments - Employment 2022 (March reference period); headcount equals full-time plus part-time positions across function codes 062 (sworn law enforcement), 162 (civilian law enforcement), and 005 (corrections). The Census publishes no true full-time-equivalent figures, and the March payroll snapshot is not directly comparable to a full annual operating budget. County jail data has not yet been loaded for South Carolina, so the jail column shows "—" for every county; the eventual source is expected to be the SC Department of Corrections' Jail and Prison Inspection Division, which inspects every local detention facility at least annually under S.C. Code § 24-9-20 but does not publish a public facility roster or capacity dataset. Sheriff department budget data has not yet been loaded for South Carolina. Sheriff names for South Carolina's 46 counties were collected from the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association County Map & Directory and machine-verified against county sources in July 2026. Spartanburg County's sheriff is a 2025 gubernatorial appointee serving an unexpired term under the vacancy provisions of S.C. Code § 23-11-40, not the last directly-elected incumbent; Horry County also operates a separate county police department alongside its elected Sheriff's Office, so its sheriff-office staffing figure may not represent all county-level law enforcement in that county.