Property tax in Berkeley County, South Carolina

Who sends the property tax bill in Berkeley County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Berkeley County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Berkeley County Real Property Services (the county assessor), which is who to ask if the value looks wrong. For how to look up and pay the bill, go to the county's own payment information.

Three county offices share the job: Real Property Services sets the value, the Auditor calculates the tax and produces the bill, and the Treasurer collects it. If the home is inside a town or city (such as Goose Creek, Hanahan, Moncks Corner, Summerville or the parts of Charleston and North Charleston in the county), that municipality's tax is included on the same county bill. The bill can also carry flat fees on top of the tax, such as the county solid waste fee and, where they apply, a fire or stormwater fee. Online payments go through the county's payment processor, which adds a convenience fee that the county does not receive. Vehicle taxes follow a separate calendar, due in the month the registration expires.

When are property taxes due in Berkeley County?

For the 2026 bill, Berkeley County has one due date: January 15, 2027. Tax year 2026 bills go out in October 2026 and are due by January 15, 2027, which is a Friday. South Carolina law sets this date for every county. For a mailed payment, the U.S. postmark date counts as the payment date. If the bill was mailed late, the first penalty does not start until 30 days after the bill was mailed. A 3% penalty is added to taxes not paid by January 15, another 7% to taxes not paid by February 1, and another 5% to taxes not paid by March 16. After March 16 the unpaid bill goes into execution: it must then be paid at the Delinquent Tax Collector's office in Moncks Corner, collection costs are added, and property with unpaid taxes can be sold at the county's tax sale, held in November or December.

From Berkeley County's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. If a date falls on a weekend or holiday, the county's own rules on the next business day apply.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Berkeley County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Berkeley County's average effective rate of 0.45% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Berkeley County at a glance

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 Berkeley County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Berkeley County has the 32nd highest effective property-tax rate: 31 rank higher and 14 rank lower. That is on the lower side for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2800th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Berkeley County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Berkeley County's 69,861 owner-occupied homes, 14% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 27.1% pay at least $2,000, and 19.9% pay under $800. Another 4% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,580 and owners without one pay $1,047. 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 Berkeley County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $1,400 is about 1.5% of the median income of Berkeley County homeowner households, $91,521 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 74.5% of Berkeley 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 Berkeley County?

Yes. The median bill went from $996 in 2015-2019 to $1,400 in 2020-2024, a 40.6% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 67.3%, from $185,500 to $310,300. 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 Berkeley County

Berkeley County borders 6 counties.

How is a home assessed in Berkeley County?

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

Is there a homestead exemption in Berkeley 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 Berkeley County. South Carolina's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the South Carolina programs, Berkeley County runs its own:

• Local Option Sales Tax Credit: Berkeley County's local option sales tax pays for a credit against property tax, figured as the property's appraised value times a factor set each year; it is applied to the bill automatically, and several towns add a sales tax credit of their own. The factor for the 2026 bills had not been published when this was checked; for the 2025-2026 bills it was 0.000730, about $73 on a $100,000 home.

How to appeal your Berkeley County property assessment

In Berkeley County you appeal to the Berkeley County Real Property Services (the county assessor), then the Berkeley County Board of Assessment Appeals. The deadline: Object in writing to the assessor within 90 days of the date the assessment notice was mailed. The county sends a notice only when a value rises by $1,000 or more or a property is assessed for the first time. In a year with no notice, a written objection can be filed at any time, but it counts for that year's bill only if it is filed before the first penalty date, which the county gives as January 15; filed later, it applies to the next year. If a conference with the assessor does not settle it, file a written protest with the assessor within 30 days of the conference. To go on to the county Board of Assessment Appeals, give the assessor written notice of intent to appeal within 30 days of the date of the assessor's written response, and after that request a hearing at the Administrative Law Court within 30 days of the board's written decision. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

How South Carolina's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.

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

Work out your own numbers

• How much house can I afford?

  Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Berkeley County's tax rate to hand.

• Mortgage calculator

  Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.

• South Carolina income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what South Carolina actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Berkeley County

  The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.