Property tax in Richland County, South Carolina

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

The bill comes from the Richland County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Richland 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, the Auditor calculates the tax, and the Treasurer sends the bill and collects it. City taxes for Columbia, Forest Acres, Eastover and Cayce appear on the same county bill as a municipal levy. Online payments are processed by SC.GOV, the state's web portal, which charges its own fee; you can also pay in person at 2020 Hampton St. in Columbia, by mail, at self-service kiosks (cards only) or at Synovus Bank offices.

When are property taxes due in Richland County?

For the 2026 bill, Richland County has one due date: January 15, 2027. State law makes property taxes payable from September 30 through January 15 of the following year, and penalties begin after January 15. January 15, 2027 is a Friday. A mailed payment counts by its U.S. postmark, and the Postal Service now often postmarks mail at a regional processing center a day or more after it is mailed, so mail early or pay online, in person, at a county kiosk or at a Synovus Bank office. The Treasurer also offers a free monthly payment plan by signed contract, but it does not stop penalties on any amount unpaid after January 15. Under state law, taxes unpaid after January 15 pick up a 3% penalty, another 7% if still unpaid on February 2, and another 5% if still unpaid on March 17. After that the Treasurer issues a tax execution, collection costs are added, and a property with unpaid taxes can be listed in the county's public tax sale, typically held each fall.

From Richland 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 Richland County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Richland County's average effective rate of 0.67% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Richland 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 Richland County compare in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina's 46 counties, Richland County has the 6th highest effective property-tax rate: 5 rank higher and 40 rank lower. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 2011th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every South Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Richland County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Richland County's 101,223 owner-occupied homes, 16.8% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 34.7% pay at least $2,000, and 15.8% 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 $1,743 and owners without one pay $1,380. 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 Richland County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $1,637 is about 1.9% of the median income of Richland County homeowner households, $87,429 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 60.3% of Richland 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 Richland County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,292 in 2015-2019 to $1,637 in 2020-2024, a 26.7% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 48.9%, from $163,100 to $242,800. 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 Richland County

Richland County borders 6 counties.

How is a home assessed in Richland County?

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

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

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

• Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) property tax credit: Richland County levies a local option sales tax and uses part of it to reduce property tax bills: a credit is applied directly on the bill at a rate the County Auditor sets each year, with additional city credits in recent years for Columbia, Forest Acres and Eastover.

How to appeal your Richland County property assessment

In Richland County you appeal to the Richland County Assessor (written objection), then the Richland County Board of Assessment Appeals. The deadline: In a year you receive an assessment notice, file a written objection with the Assessor within 90 days after the notice is mailed. In a year with no notice, you may appeal in writing at any time: an appeal filed before the first penalty date (January 16) counts for that tax year, and a later one counts for the next year. If the Assessor does not agree, you have 30 days after your conference with the Assessor to file a written protest, then 30 days after the Assessor's response to appeal to the 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

• How much house can I afford?

  Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Richland 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 Richland County

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