Property tax in Fairfield County, South Carolina

By Brent Chudoba, editor Updated September 23, 2026

The median property tax bill in Fairfield County, South Carolina is $776 a year, which is about 0.51% of the county's median home value of $151,200. That effective rate is about the same as 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 Fairfield County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Fairfield County's average effective rate of 0.51% (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: $771 / year

Property tax in Fairfield County at a glance

Fairfield County, South Carolina property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
Measure	Value
Median annual property tax	$776
Median home value	$151,200
Effective tax rate	0.51%
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 Fairfield County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Fairfield County has the 22nd highest effective property-tax rate: 21 rank higher and 24 rank lower. That is near the middle for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2613th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Fairfield County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Fairfield County's 6,666 owner-occupied homes, 6.1% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 13% pay at least $2,000, and 42.9% pay under $800. Another 16.8% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Fairfield County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual bill	Homes	Share
Under $800	2,857	42.9%
$800 to $1,499	1,334	20%
$1,500 to $1,999	490	7.4%
$2,000 to $2,999	460	6.9%
$3,000 or more	404	6.1%
No property tax paid	1,121	16.8%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,131 and owners without one pay $625. 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 Fairfield County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $776 is about 1.2% of the median income of Fairfield County homeowner households, $62,326 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 74.6% of Fairfield 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 Fairfield County?

Yes. The median bill went from $560 in 2015-2019 to $776 in 2020-2024, a 38.6% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 46.8%, from $103,000 to $151,200. 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 Fairfield County

Fairfield County borders 6 counties.

Fairfield County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
County	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Newberry County, SC	0.67%	$1,154	$173,300
Richland County, SC	0.67%	$1,637	$242,800
Chester County, SC	0.56%	$890	$158,300
Union County, SC	0.56%	$579	$103,600
Fairfield County, SC (this county)	0.51%	$776	$151,200
Lancaster County, SC	0.5%	$1,657	$329,900
Kershaw County, SC	0.47%	$1,013	$217,100

How is a home assessed in Fairfield County?

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

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

When are property taxes due in Fairfield 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. Fairfield County issues and collects the bill, so the dates printed on your statement are the ones that bind you.

How to appeal your Fairfield 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; Fairfield 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 Fairfield 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.