Property tax in Orangeburg County, South Carolina
In Orangeburg County, the property tax bill comes from the Orangeburg County Treasurer's Office. The 2026 bill is due January 15, 2027. You can look up and pay the bill on the county's own payment page. Taken from Orangeburg County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.
The median property tax bill in Orangeburg County, South Carolina is $749 a year, which is about 0.65% of the county's median home value of $115,800. That effective rate is higher than 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.
Who sends the property tax bill in Orangeburg County, and how do you pay it?
The bill comes from the Orangeburg County Treasurer's Office. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Orangeburg 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 homes and land, the Auditor handles personal property and the homestead exemption for owners 65 and older, legally blind or fully disabled, and the Treasurer collects the bill. Taxes that go unpaid are handled by the county's separate Delinquent Tax office. Orangeburg County has no local option sales tax, only a capital projects sales tax, so its bills carry no sales tax credit against property tax. Online payments go through the State of South Carolina's payment system, and the county says a payment can take up to 3 business days to show on its records.
When are property taxes due in Orangeburg County?
For the 2026 bill, Orangeburg County has one due date: January 15, 2027. South Carolina law makes property taxes payable from September 30 through January 15, and January 15, 2027 is a Friday. The binding date is the penalty date printed on your tax notice, which is later only if the notice was mailed less than 30 days before January 15. For a mailed payment, the U.S. postmark date counts as the payment date. Online payments must cover the whole bill, and mobile home taxes cannot be paid online. State law adds a 3% penalty to taxes not paid by January 15, another 7% to taxes still unpaid on February 2, and another 5% to taxes still unpaid on March 17. Taxes unpaid on March 17 go to the county's Delinquent Tax office for collection, and property with unpaid taxes can be sold at the county's tax sale.
From Orangeburg 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 Orangeburg County
Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Orangeburg County's average effective rate of 0.65% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.
Estimated property tax: $753 / year
Property tax in Orangeburg County at a glance
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median annual property tax | $749 |
| Median home value | $115,800 |
| Effective tax rate | 0.65% |
| 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 Orangeburg County compare in South Carolina?
Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Orangeburg County has the 8th highest effective property-tax rate: 7 rank higher and 38 rank lower. That is on the higher side for South Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2091st of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.
How much do homeowners in Orangeburg County actually pay?
The median is only the middle bill. Across Orangeburg County's 22,149 owner-occupied homes, 3.5% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 9.9% pay at least $2,000, and 45.8% pay under $800. Another 13.6% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.
| Annual bill | Homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $800 | 10,151 | 45.8% |
| $800 to $1,499 | 5,230 | 23.6% |
| $1,500 to $1,999 | 1,538 | 6.9% |
| $2,000 to $2,999 | 1,426 | 6.4% |
| $3,000 or more | 785 | 3.5% |
| No property tax paid | 3,019 | 13.6% |
Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,070 and owners without one pay $573. 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 Orangeburg County property tax bill compare with local incomes?
The median property tax bill of $749 is about 1.3% of the median income of Orangeburg County homeowner households, $56,285 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 67% of Orangeburg 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 Orangeburg County?
Yes. The median bill went from $627 in 2015-2019 to $749 in 2020-2024, a 19.5% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 24.9%, from $92,700 to $115,800. 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 Orangeburg County
Orangeburg County borders 9 counties.
| County | Effective rate | Median bill | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bamberg County, SC | 0.83% | $811 | $97,800 |
| Barnwell County, SC | 0.73% | $775 | $106,000 |
| Orangeburg County, SC (this county) | 0.65% | $749 | $115,800 |
| Clarendon County, SC | 0.56% | $883 | $158,000 |
| Dorchester County, SC | 0.56% | $1,851 | $329,300 |
| Colleton County, SC | 0.55% | $900 | $162,500 |
| Lexington County, SC | 0.49% | $1,151 | $234,500 |
| Berkeley County, SC | 0.45% | $1,400 | $310,300 |
| Aiken County, SC | 0.41% | $897 | $218,000 |
| Calhoun County, SC | 0.41% | $704 | $172,100 |
How is a home assessed in Orangeburg County?
South Carolina assesses homes at 4% of market value in every county, Orangeburg County included. How South Carolina assesses and reappraises homes.
Is there a homestead exemption in Orangeburg 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 Orangeburg County. South Carolina's exemptions and relief programs in full.
Orangeburg County does not add relief programs of its own beyond the South Carolina ones (checked September 23, 2026).
How to appeal your Orangeburg County property assessment
In Orangeburg County you appeal to the Orangeburg County Assessor, then the Orangeburg County Board of Assessment Appeals. The deadline: If you received an assessment notice, give the Assessor a written objection within 90 days after the date the notice was 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. 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 county Board of Assessment Appeals, and 30 days after the Board's written 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
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How much house can I afford?
Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Orangeburg County's tax rate to hand.
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Mortgage calculator
Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.
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South Carolina income tax
Brackets, standard deduction and what South Carolina actually taxes.
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Sales tax in Orangeburg County
The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.
Sources
- Median real estate taxes paid and median home value for Orangeburg 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.