Property tax in Calhoun County, South Carolina

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

The bill comes from the Calhoun County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Calhoun County Tax Assessor's Office, 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 work: the Assessor values real estate and takes applications for the 4% owner-occupied (legal residence) rate, the Auditor applies the tax rate and handles the homestead exemption, and the Treasurer collects current taxes. Taxes still unpaid on March 17 are paid to the Delinquent Tax Collector, not the Treasurer. Online payments go through a payment system linked from the Treasurer's page, and taxes can also be paid by phone; online payers get no paper receipt, so print or save the one shown on screen.

When are property taxes due in Calhoun County?

For the 2026 bill, Calhoun County has one due date: January 15, 2027. State law makes property taxes payable between September 30 and January 15; the county's own pages do not restate the date. January 15, 2027 is a Friday. Under state law a mailed payment counts as paid on its U.S. postmark date. If the bill is mailed late, the first penalty waits until 30 days after mailing. Under state law, tax not paid by January 15 gets a 3% penalty, another 7% if still unpaid on February 2, and another 5% if still unpaid on March 17. On March 17 the county treats the bill as delinquent and the Treasurer turns it over to the Delinquent Tax Collector, who adds collection costs; the property can then be sold at the county's delinquent tax sale, set for November 9, 2026.

From Calhoun County's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. The county had not posted a calendar labeled for this cycle when we checked, so these dates come from state law and the county's standing schedule; the date on your bill is the one that binds you.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Calhoun County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Calhoun 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.

Property tax in Calhoun 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 Calhoun County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Calhoun County has the 39th highest effective property-tax rate: 38 rank higher and 7 rank lower. That is on the lower side for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2908th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Calhoun County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Calhoun County's 5,254 owner-occupied homes, 2.8% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 7.3% pay at least $2,000, and 53.3% pay under $800. Another 6.7% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,012 and owners without one pay $551. 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 Calhoun County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $704 is about 1.2% of the median income of Calhoun County homeowner households, $61,083 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 85% of Calhoun 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 Calhoun County?

The survey cannot tell. The median bill was $619 in 2015-2019 and $704 in 2020-2024, but that $85 difference is inside the Census's own margin of error for a county this size, so it could be sampling noise rather than a real change.

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 Calhoun County

Calhoun County borders 5 counties.

How is a home assessed in Calhoun County?

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

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

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

• Local Option Sales Tax property tax credit: Calhoun County has levied a one percent local option sales tax since May 1, 2005. Under state law 71 percent of it goes to a property tax credit fund, split 67 percent to the county and 33 percent to the towns, and each property's credit is its appraised value times a factor set each year. The credit is applied to the bill automatically; there is no application.

How to appeal your Calhoun County property assessment

In Calhoun County you appeal to the Calhoun County Assessor (written objection), then the Calhoun County Board of Assessment Appeals. The deadline: In a year you receive an assessment notice, object to the Assessor in writing within 90 days after the notice is mailed. In a year with no notice, you may appeal in writing at any time; an appeal filed on or before January 15 counts for that tax year, and one filed later counts for the next year. If a conference with the Assessor does not settle it, you have 30 days after the conference to file a written protest, then 30 days after the Assessor's written response to give the Assessor written notice that you are appealing to the Board of Assessment Appeals. These windows are set by state law; the county's pages do not restate them. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against state law, because Calhoun County does not restate them on its own pages.

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 Calhoun 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 Calhoun County

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