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The highest paid county administrator in South Carolina is Joseph Kernell in Greenville with an annual salary of $306,386, according to a list of counties with populations higher than 200,000 from the South Carolina Association of Counties.
The list was compiled in February based on reports from the various governments and includes 42 of 46 counties.
Greenville County has the largest county population with 525,534 people and a county budget of $213,676,673. Full-time employment is 2,402.
Kernell has been the administrator since January 2004. He previously served as county administrator for St. Charles County in Missouri and holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Missouri and a bachelor of science from Columbia (Missouri) College.
Charleston County’s Bill Tuten is the second highest paid at $286,665. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, he’s been the administrator in Charleston County since July 2020 after serving in other county jobs since 2015. He worked as the Lowcountry regional director for Sen. Lindsay Graham for 10 years before that and two years as Projects Assistant/Consultant for Graham. He also worked for Sen. Strom Thurmond from 1997 to 2003.
Charleston County’s population is listed as 408,235 and has an annual budget of $324,747,197, the association of counties reported.
Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown is the third highest paid at $275,000.
Previously he was the county administrator in Smith County, Texas, for almost five years and before that was director of human resources for almost six years.
He worked for Enterprise Rent-A-Car for 13 years before joining the public sector.
Richland County’s government employment is 2,225, budget $218,996,057 and has a population 416,147, the association reported.
A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, he earned a Masters of Business Administration from Louisiana State University (Shreveport) and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from
York County’s Josh Edwards earns $258,441 a year. He’s been in the administrator’s job since April 2024. He previously worked for nearly five years as assistant manager for the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government in Georgia and as a budget analyst in Fairfax, Virginia, strategic initiatives manager and assistant budget director for the City of Durham, North Carolina and senior budget analyst for Cary, North Carolina.
York County’s full-time employment is 1,198, annual budget $148,125,141 and population 282,090, the association of counties reported.
Edwards holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Wake Forest University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Lynn Sturkie, Lexington County’s administrator, makes $248,340. He previously served as interim administrator, following the retirement of Joe Mergo III.
He had worked for the county since April 2012 as director of technology services after 25 years in the private sector, including director for CGI Group, Inc. in Columbia.
Lexington County has a full-time employment of 1,856 people, budget $182,532,088 and a population of 293,991, the association of counties reported.
Barry Spivey has been administrator in Horry County since 2025 and makes $243,240. Since going to work for the county in 2019, he has served as an assistant county administrator and finance director.
Previously he was chief financial officer for the Burroughs & Chapin Company for 22 years. Spivey received his MBA from Coastal Carolina University.
Spartanburg County’s B. Cole Alverson makes $201,960. He has been the administrator since 2018. A Spartanburg County native, He has been with Spartanburg County since 2005 in various roles, including administrative services coordinator, program evaluation manager, and director of budget management.
Alverson earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management from the College of Charleston and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of South Carolina-Columbia.
