SC Property Tax Rates by County: Millage, Exemptions, Vehicles

South Carolina property tax rates by county vary more than in almost any other state, with total county millage running from roughly 52 mills in Horry County to nearly 564 mills in Georgetown County in 2025.¹ What you actually pay, though, depends on three numbers stacked together: your property’s fair market value, the assessment ratio set by state law for your type of property, and the combined millage rate set by every taxing authority whose district touches your parcel. Two identical homes in different counties can produce very different bills, and even two homes in the same county can differ if one sits inside a city limit or a special fire district and the other does not.

Millage Rates in Each South Carolina County

A mill is one-tenth of one cent, or $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value.² Your total millage is the sum of separate levies from the county, the school district, any municipality, and special districts for things like fire, water, sewer, and sometimes a technical college. The South Carolina Association of Counties compiles the county-level totals each year. A sample of the 2025 figures:

Horry County: 52.1 mills
Greenville County: 53.0 mills
Beaufort County: 59.5 mills
York County: 68.2 mills
Richland County: 132.0 mills
Barnwell County: 170.6 mills
Williamsburg County: 177.5 mills
Fairfield County: 199.9 mills
Hampton County: 235.5 mills
Allendale County: 267.0 mills
Georgetown County: 563.9 mills

The pattern behind the spread is straightforward. Coastal and urban counties with high property values can fund services at low millage because the tax base is large; rural counties with lower land values push millage higher to cover the same schools, roads, and emergency services. A homeowner in Allendale County faces a millage rate roughly five times higher than a homeowner in Horry County.¹

These county-level totals are not the final number on your bill. Greenville County alone has 136 separate tax districts, each with its own combination of overlapping municipal and special district levies.³ Berkeley County’s 2025 sheet shows county operations at 41.0 mills and school operations at 141.9 mills, adding up to a base of roughly 200 mills before any municipal or special district charges.⁴ State law caps how fast a local government can raise its general operating millage each year, tying increases to the consumer price index plus population growth.⁵

Why the Same Millage Produces Very Different Bills

South Carolina does not tax all property at the same percentage of market value. State law assigns different assessment ratios based on how the property is used, and the gap between the lowest and highest is large enough that classification matters as much as location.⁶

Owner-occupied primary residence: 4%. Applies to your home and up to five contiguous acres, if you own it and live in it as your legal residence.
Agricultural real property owned by individuals: 4%. Timber tracts must be at least five acres; other agricultural tracts need at least ten acres or must meet a minimum gross farm income test.
Second homes, rental property, commercial property, and vacant land: 6%.
Personal motor vehicles owned by individuals: 6%.²
Transportation companies: 9.5%.
Manufacturing, utilities, and business personal property: 10.5%.

To get the 4% owner-occupied rate, you have to file a legal residence application with your county assessor. If you never file, or if the property doesn’t qualify as your legal residence, it defaults to the 6% ratio. That single form cuts your assessed value by a third, which is why skipping it is one of the costlier mistakes South Carolina homeowners make.⁷

How to Calculate Your Tax Bill

The formula is fair market value × assessment ratio × millage rate.² Take a $250,000 home in a district with 200 mills total. As an owner-occupied primary residence:

Fair market value: $250,000
Assessment ratio: 4%
Assessed value: $10,000
Millage: 0.200
Annual tax: $2,000

Now treat the same $250,000 house as a rental. The ratio moves to 6%, the assessed value becomes $15,000, and the bill becomes $3,000. Same house, same district, fifty percent more tax, driven entirely by classification. This is why confirming your property’s classification with the county assessor is worth the phone call.

What Lowers a Homeowner’s Bill

School Operating Tax Exemption

Since Act 388 of 2006, owner-occupied homes at the 4% ratio are completely exempt from the school operating portion of property tax.⁸ In Berkeley County that means the 141.9 school operating mills come off the top of a homeowner’s bill, leaving something close to 60 mills of the base rate plus any municipal or special district charges. The exemption does not cover school bond or debt service millage, and it applies only to properties already qualified for the 4% ratio. Rental and commercial properties at the 6% ratio pay the full school operating millage.

Homestead Exemption

South Carolina’s homestead exemption removes the first $50,000 of fair market value from tax entirely for homeowners who occupy the property as their primary residence and are age 65 or older, permanently and totally disabled, or legally blind.⁸ You apply through your County Auditor. The exemption stacks with the 4% ratio and the school operating exemption, so qualifying homeowners get all three at once.

Disabled Veterans

Veterans with a total, permanent, service-connected disability are fully exempt from property tax on their primary residence and up to five acres, plus up to two privately owned passenger vehicles. Surviving spouses can claim the same exemption even if the veteran never applied. The exemption can be applied retroactively for up to two prior years if the veteran paid taxes on time during that period.⁹

One Note on Vehicles

South Carolina taxes cars and trucks as personal property, which surprises many new residents. The same millage rate that applies to your home’s tax district applies to your vehicle, so where you live drives your car tax the same way it drives your real estate tax. Individually owned vehicles are assessed at 6%; business-owned vehicles, campers, and watercraft at 10.5%.²

Finding Your Exact Rate

Every county auditor or assessor publishes an annual schedule listing each tax district and its breakdown by taxing authority. Your tax district code appears on a prior tax bill or through a property search on the county assessor’s website. Read the total for your specific district, not the countywide figure, because overlapping fire districts, municipalities, and special purpose districts can push the actual rate meaningfully above or below the county average. For side-by-side comparisons across the state, the South Carolina Association of Counties’ annual report compiles rates from all 46 counties in one document.¹

1
South Carolina Association of Counties. 2025 South Carolina Property Tax Rates by County
2
South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. Property Tax FAQ
3
Greenville County. Millage Rates
4
Berkeley County Government. Millage
5
South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. Millage Rate Increase Limitations
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-43-220 – Classifications and Assessment Ratios
7
South Carolina Department of Revenue. SC Department of Revenue Policy Manual – Chapter 5, Individual Property Tax
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-37-220 – General Exemptions from Taxes
9
South Carolina Department of Revenue. Veterans – Learn More About SC Property Tax Exemptions