Property tax in Chesterfield County, South Carolina

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

The bill comes from the Chesterfield County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Chesterfield 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: the Assessor values real property and hears the first appeal, the Auditor handles exemption applications, and the Treasurer collects; delinquent taxes go to the Tax Collector. For property inside a town, such as Pageland, the town's property tax is on the same county bill. Bills also show a Local Option Credit, a reduction funded by the county's local option sales tax and applied automatically. Card payments online, by phone or in person carry a 2.35% fee charged by the payment provider. The bill is addressed to the owner of record on January 1, so a buyer who closed during the year may receive a bill in the seller's name; state law requires the Treasurer to waive late penalties when the bill went to the prior owner and the new owner got no timely notice.

When are property taxes due in Chesterfield County?

For the 2026 (billed fall 2026, due January 15, 2027) bill, Chesterfield County has one due date: January 15, 2027. State law sets January 15 as the last day to pay without penalty, and a mailed payment counts by its U.S. postmark. January 15, 2027 is a Friday. The county has not issued its 2026 bills yet; last year's real property bills were issued in early October. An owner whose prior year is paid may prepay the next year's real property tax in installments that start in February, by asking the Treasurer in writing between December 1 and January 15; taxes paid through a mortgage escrow account cannot use installments. Under state law, tax not paid by January 15 (or within 30 days after the bill was mailed, if that is later) gets a 3% penalty, another 7% if still unpaid on February 2, and another 5% if still unpaid on March 17. Taxes still unpaid on March 17 (unless that falls on a weekend or holiday) are delinquent: collection costs are added and the property moves toward the delinquent tax sale. Delinquent taxes cannot be paid online or by phone, only at the Tax Collector's office or by mail.

From Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Chesterfield County's average effective rate of 0.42% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Chesterfield County has the 36th highest effective property-tax rate: 35 rank higher and 10 rank lower. That is on the lower side for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2881st of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Chesterfield County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Chesterfield County's 12,760 owner-occupied homes, 3% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 6.1% pay at least $2,000, and 64.8% pay under $800. Another 7.4% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $710 and owners without one pay $385. 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 Chesterfield County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $487 is about 0.8% of the median income of Chesterfield County homeowner households, $59,444 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 72.8% of Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield County?

Yes. The median bill went from $374 in 2015-2019 to $487 in 2020-2024, a 30.2% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 42.6%, from $81,500 to $116,200. 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 Chesterfield County

Chesterfield County borders 7 counties, 3 of them across the state line.

How is a home assessed in Chesterfield County?

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

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

Chesterfield County does not add relief programs of its own beyond the South Carolina ones (checked September 23, 2026).

How to appeal your Chesterfield County property assessment

In Chesterfield County you appeal to the Chesterfield County Assessor. The deadline: In a year you receive an assessment notice, a written objection to the assessor within 90 days after the notice is mailed. In a year with no notice, a written appeal at any time; one filed before the first penalty date (normally January 16) applies to that year's bill, and one filed later applies to the next year. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against state law, because Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield County

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