Property tax in Aiken County, South Carolina

By Brent Chudoba, editor Updated September 23, 2026

The median property tax bill in Aiken County, South Carolina is $897 a year, which is about 0.41% of the county's median home value of $218,000. That effective rate is lower than the typical South Carolina county (0.51%) and lower than the national median (0.81%). These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024); your own bill depends on your home's assessed value and any exemptions.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Aiken County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Aiken County's average effective rate of 0.41% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Home market value

Estimated property tax: $894 / year

Property tax in Aiken County at a glance

Aiken County, South Carolina property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
Measure	Value
Median annual property tax	$897
Median home value	$218,000
Effective tax rate	0.41%
Typical South Carolina county rate	0.51%
National median county rate	0.81%

Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

How does Aiken County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Aiken County has the 38th highest effective property-tax rate: 37 rank higher and 8 rank lower. That is on the lower side for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2907th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Aiken County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Aiken County's 53,513 owner-occupied homes, 7.3% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 15% pay at least $2,000, and 43.3% pay under $800. Another 3.6% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Aiken County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual bill	Homes	Share
Under $800	23,172	43.3%
$800 to $1,499	14,846	27.7%
$1,500 to $1,999	5,541	10.4%
$2,000 to $2,999	4,107	7.7%
$3,000 or more	3,909	7.3%
No property tax paid	1,938	3.6%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,061 and owners without one pay $706. Owners who have paid off a home have usually held it longer, and in states that cap how fast an existing owner's assessment can rise, long-held homes carry lower assessed values. Census table B25103.

How does the Aiken County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $897 is about 1.1% of the median income of Aiken County homeowner households, $81,893 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 76.5% of Aiken County's occupied homes are lived in by their owners; renters pay property tax too, just folded into rent.

Have property taxes gone up in Aiken County?

Yes. The median bill went from $681 in 2015-2019 to $897 in 2020-2024, a 31.7% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 48%, from $147,300 to $218,000. Bills rose more slowly than values, which is what assessment caps and falling millage rates do: the county is taxing a smaller share of each home's worth.

Two Census ACS 5-year periods with no survey years in common, in each period's own dollars. A change counts only if it exceeds the combined 90% margin of error.

Property tax in counties next to Aiken County

Aiken County borders 7 counties, 2 of them across the state line.

Aiken County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
County	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Richmond County, GA	0.84%	$1,508	$178,500
Barnwell County, SC	0.73%	$775	$106,000
Burke County, GA	0.68%	$1,025	$151,600
Orangeburg County, SC	0.65%	$749	$115,800
Saluda County, SC	0.51%	$747	$146,500
Lexington County, SC	0.49%	$1,151	$234,500
Edgefield County, SC	0.43%	$875	$202,700
Aiken County, SC (this county)	0.41%	$897	$218,000

How is a home assessed in Aiken County?

South Carolina assesses homes at 4% of market value in every county, Aiken County included. How South Carolina assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Aiken County?

Not as a dollar amount. South Carolina owner-occupants get a 4% assessment ratio instead of 6% plus an exemption from school operating millage; apply for the 4% ratio with the county assessor. That is the South Carolina rule, and it applies in Aiken County. South Carolina's exemptions and relief programs in full.

When are property taxes due in Aiken County?

One annual payment. Bills go out around September 30 and the practical due date is January 15. Penalties then stack: 3% after January 16, another 7% after February 2, and another 5% after March 17. A county may by ordinance offer a five-payment installment plan, elected between December 1 and January 15, but that is a local option rather than a right.

That is the South Carolina rule. Aiken County issues and collects the bill, so the dates printed on your statement are the ones that bind you.

How to appeal your Aiken County property assessment

You contest the assessed value with the County assessor, then the county Board of Assessment Appeals, then the Administrative Law Court. The filing deadline is typically 90 days after the assessment notice is mailed. That is the South Carolina rule; Aiken County sets the exact dates and forms. The South Carolina appeal process step by step.

South Carolina rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the South Carolina page.

Work out your own numbers

Sources

Median real estate taxes paid and median home value for Aiken County, South Carolina: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2020-2024), tables B25103, B25077, B25102, B25119 and B25003; the five-year comparison uses the 2015-2019 estimates. Neighboring counties: Census county adjacency file.