South Carolina · County property tax · ACS 2024
Barnwell County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Barnwell County pays $775 a year, an effective rate of 0.73%, far below the U.S. average.
- $775
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.73%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -61%
- vs U.S. average
- #4 of 46
- rank in SC
The verdict
Homeowners in Barnwell County pay a median $775 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.73%, more affordable than 56% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $775
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.73%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1364 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -61%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($106,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for South Carolina. Population: 20,521. Owner-occupied homes: 5,757.
The median annual property tax in Barnwell County is $775, which is 38% lower than the South Carolina state average and 61% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.73% on a median home value of $106,000. Property taxes represent 1.7% of the median household income in this county.
Why Barnwell County's ACS bill runs light vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Barnwell County pay a median annual property tax of $775, far below the national median and well below the South Carolina state median. On a $106,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.73% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Low among South Carolina counties by effective rate
Barnwell County ranks #4 of 46 counties in South Carolina by effective rate (91% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Barnwell County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $46,626 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Barnwell County's 0.73% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 56%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Barnwell County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
The rate held while the market moved
Barnwell County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 8.7% up, against a median home value that rose 21.0%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 31.6%, from $589 to $775.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 32% from $589 to $775. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 2,651 of 5,757 owner-occupied homes (46.0%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Incomes here are in the lowest quarter nationally while the rate sits just below the middle, and the median bill lands at 1.7% of median household income. The rate reads as unremarkable in a national ranking; the earnings behind it are not, and the ratio above is where the two meet.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Barnwell County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Barnwell County homeowners, 2,651 of 5,757 owner-occupied homes (46.0%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 46.0% (2,651)
- $800 to $1,499 26.4% (1,520)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.3% (420)
- $2,000 to $2,999 6.3% (364)
- $3,000 or more 3.0% (170)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
632 homes here (11.0%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how South Carolina handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Barnwell County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+91%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Barnwell County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Barnwell County's LIGHT ACS 2024 figure.
Barnwell County's median bill is 38% below the South Carolina median and 61% below the U.S. median.
A high rate, a smaller bill
Barnwell County taxes property at 0.73%, about 52% above the South Carolina average, yet its median bill of $775 lands roughly 38% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Barnwell County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Barnwell County | South Carolina Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.7% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Barnwell County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · South Carolina counties.
Barnwell County bill trail · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $775 +8.1% | 0.73% |
| 2023 | $717 +3.6% | 0.74% |
| 2022 | $692 +9.1% | 0.71% |
| 2021 | $634 +7.6% | 0.71% |
| 2020 | $589 | 0.67% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Barnwell County: tax takes only 1.7% of income
Counties near Barnwell County's median bill
On effective rate, Barnwell County sits nearest Yamhill County (OR), Grant County (OR), Bowman County (ND).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Yuba County (CA), Madison County (MS), Grayson County (KY).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Barnwell County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 250 of 8,730 returns from Barnwell County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,424 - 40% of those reporters sat in the $100-200k AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in South Carolina
Barnwell County bill FAQs
- How does Barnwell County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Barnwell County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.73% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Barnwell County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Barnwell County jumped 31.6% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $589 to $775, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Barnwell County?
- Property taxes in Barnwell County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $46,626 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Barnwell County, South Carolina?
- The median annual property tax in Barnwell County is $775, an effective rate of 0.73% on a $106,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Barnwell County?
- Barnwell County, South Carolina scores B- (67/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is bill size at A ($775/yr). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
What to do with Barnwell County's LIGHT bill
Barnwell County's $775 median bill sits well below the U.S. median - still size a parcel estimate; local millage and exemptions move the real bill. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is light here: about 1.7% of Barnwell County's $46,626 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Barnwell County's LIGHT median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.73%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $775/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Barnwell County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Barnwell County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Marion County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Barnwell County at $775/yr; rate 0.47% vs Barnwell County 0.73%.
Wilkinson County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Barnwell County at $775/yr; rate 0.90% vs Barnwell County 0.73%.
Danville city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $774/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.65% vs Barnwell County 0.73%.
Fairfield County, SC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $776/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.51% vs Barnwell County 0.73%.
South Carolina county set
State ACS overview for every published South Carolina county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Barnwell County stamps UNDER · LIGHT - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Barnwell County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.