Property tax in Dorchester County, South Carolina

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

The bill comes from the Dorchester County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Dorchester 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 work: the Assessor values real estate and grants the 4% owner-occupied (legal residence) rate, the Auditor calculates the tax and handles the homestead exemption, and the Treasurer sends the bill and collects it. The Treasurer's bill covers the county, school districts and the county's municipalities, and the Treasurer also collects solid waste and stormwater fees. Apply for the 4% legal residence rate before the January penalty date for it to count for that tax year. Online payments go through the county's payment portal, which is run by an outside vendor. You can also pay in person at the Summerville or St. George office or by mail.

When are property taxes due in Dorchester County?

For the 2026 bill, Dorchester County has one due date: January 15, 2027. Tax collection begins on or around October 1, and real property taxes are due without penalty by January 15. For mailed payments the U.S. postmark decides whether a payment is on time. Payments left in the drop box at the Summerville or St. George office before 8:30 a.m. are credited to the previous day. Owners who do not pay through escrow can enroll from December 1 to January 15 in the county's advance installment program for the following tax year: bills in February, April, June, August and October, with the balance billed in November and due by January 15. The prior year's taxes must be paid in full to enroll, there is no fee, and mobile homes do not qualify. Taxes not paid by January 15 pick up penalties in three steps set by state law: 3% on January 16, another 7% on February 2 and another 5% on March 17, for 15% in all. After March 16 the bill goes to the Delinquent Tax Office, which adds further fees on set dates through the year and can sell the property at the October tax sale.

From Dorchester 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 Dorchester County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Dorchester County's average effective rate of 0.56% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Dorchester 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 Dorchester County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Dorchester County has the 14th highest effective property-tax rate: 13 rank higher and 32 rank lower. That is on the higher side for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2427th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Dorchester County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Dorchester County's 47,721 owner-occupied homes, 18.4% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 42.6% pay at least $2,000, and 14.5% pay under $800. Another 4.2% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,036 and owners without one pay $1,355. 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 Dorchester County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $1,851 is about 2.1% of the median income of Dorchester County homeowner households, $90,196 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 75.5% of Dorchester 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 Dorchester County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,342 in 2015-2019 to $1,851 in 2020-2024, a 37.9% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 65.6%, from $198,800 to $329,300. 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 Dorchester County

Dorchester County borders 4 counties.

How is a home assessed in Dorchester County?

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

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

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

• Senior Citizen Tax Work-Off Program: Homeowners 60 or older who own and live in their Dorchester County home can work in a county department at minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) to earn a check equal to the county operating, county debt and capital improvements portion of their tax bill; they still pay the bill to the Treasurer on time. For 2026 the county took applications through February 17, 2026, and it has not yet posted the next application period.

How to appeal your Dorchester County property assessment

In Dorchester County you appeal to the Dorchester County Assessor (written request for review), then the Dorchester County Board of Assessment Appeals. The deadline: Return the county's appeal form to the Assessor within 90 days after an assessment notice is mailed, or, in a year with no notice, before the first penalty date in January (January 16) for it to count for that tax year; state law lets a later appeal count for the next year. The form needs an original signature; copies, emails and faxes are not accepted. If the Assessor's review does not settle it, you have 30 days after the conference to protest in writing, then 30 days after the Assessor's written response to appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals, and 30 days after the Board's decision to ask for a hearing before the South Carolina Administrative Law Court. 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 Dorchester 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 Dorchester County

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