Property tax in Lexington County, South Carolina

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

The bill comes from the Lexington County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Lexington 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 prepares the bills and handles the homestead exemption, and the Treasurer sends the bill and collects it. The Treasurer collects for the county, school districts, towns and special purpose districts. Apply for the 4% legal residence rate before the January 16 penalty date for it to count for that tax year. Online and phone payments go through a third-party processor that charges a convenience fee, and they are not available while any prior-year taxes are owed. You can also pay in person, by mail (check only) or at the night deposit box at the County Administration Building in Lexington.

When are property taxes due in Lexington County?

For the 2026 bill, Lexington County has one due date: January 15, 2027. Real property tax notices are mailed after October 1, and payment is due in full on or before January 15 of the following year. For mailed payments the U.S. postmark decides whether a payment is on time. Not receiving a bill does not excuse a penalty. Owners who do not pay through escrow can join the county's optional installment program; the application must reach the Treasurer before January 15 of the tax year you want to pay in installments. Five advance payments, based on the prior year's tax, are due February 15, April 15, June 15, August 15 and October 15, and the balance is billed by November 15 and due January 15. Installments are paid by cash or check, not online or by card. 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. If the tax is still unpaid on March 17, the Treasurer issues a tax execution and the bill goes to the Delinquent Tax Department, which adds collection costs and can sell the property at the annual tax sale.

From Lexington 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 Lexington County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Lexington County's average effective rate of 0.49% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Lexington 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 Lexington County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Lexington County has the 26th highest effective property-tax rate: 25 rank higher and 20 rank lower. That is near the middle for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2670th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Lexington County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Lexington County's 94,401 owner-occupied homes, 8.2% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 19.2% pay at least $2,000, and 28.8% pay under $800. Another 7.2% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,267 and owners without one pay $882. 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 Lexington County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $1,151 is about 1.3% of the median income of Lexington County homeowner households, $87,181 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 77.4% of Lexington 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 Lexington County?

Yes. The median bill went from $893 in 2015-2019 to $1,151 in 2020-2024, a 28.9% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 49.4%, from $157,000 to $234,500. 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 Lexington County

Lexington County borders 6 counties.

How is a home assessed in Lexington County?

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

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

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

• Lexington County School District Property Tax Relief credit: A one percent sales tax collected only in Lexington County pays for a credit that is subtracted automatically from the school taxes on taxable property in each of the county's five school districts, at a rate set each year for each district; on an owner-occupied home, which already pays no school operating tax, the share that would have reduced school operating tax is applied to the home's non-school taxes instead. There is no application.

How to appeal your Lexington County property assessment

In Lexington County you appeal to the Lexington County Assessor (written objection), then the Lexington County Board of Assessment Appeals. The deadline: In a year you receive an assessment notice, give the Assessor a written objection within 90 days after the notice is mailed. In a year with no notice, state law lets you appeal in writing at any time: an appeal filed before the January 16 penalty date counts for that tax year, and a later one counts for the next year. The county's FAQ page describes only a January 1 to 15 window for years without a notice; state law is broader. If the Assessor's review 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 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 Lexington 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 Lexington County

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