South Carolina · County property tax · ACS 2024
Marlboro County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Marlboro County pays $496 a year, an effective rate of 0.60%, far below the U.S. average.
- $496
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.60%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -75%
- vs U.S. average
- #9 of 46
- rank in SC
The verdict
Homeowners in Marlboro County pay a median $496 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.60%, more affordable than 71% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $496
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.60%
- Effective rate on median home
- #895 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -75%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($82,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for South Carolina. Population: 25,975. Owner-occupied homes: 6,166.
The median annual property tax in Marlboro County is $496, which is 60% lower than the South Carolina state average and 75% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.60% on a median home value of $82,000. Property taxes represent 1.4% of the median household income in this county.
Why Marlboro County's ACS bill runs light vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Marlboro County pay a median annual property tax of $496, far below the national median and far below the South Carolina state median. On a $82,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.60% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Low among South Carolina counties by effective rate
Marlboro County ranks #9 of 46 counties in South Carolina by effective rate (80% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Marlboro County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.4% of the $34,301 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Marlboro County's 0.60% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 71%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Marlboro 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
Marlboro County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 3.0% up, against a median home value that rose 14.7%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 18.1%, from $420 to $496.
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
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $420 to $496, a gain of 18%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 4,058 of 6,166 owner-occupied homes (65.8%) 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 1.4% 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 Marlboro County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Marlboro County homeowners, 4,058 of 6,166 owner-occupied homes (65.8%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 65.8% (4,058)
- $800 to $1,499 15.8% (973)
- $1,500 to $1,999 3.2% (197)
- $2,000 to $2,999 1.3% (81)
- $3,000 or more 1.5% (91)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
766 homes here (12.4%) 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 Marlboro County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+75%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Marlboro County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Marlboro County's LIGHT ACS 2024 figure.
Marlboro County's median bill is 60% below the South Carolina median and 75% below the U.S. median.
A high rate, a smaller bill
Marlboro County taxes property at 0.60%, about 25% above the South Carolina average, yet its median bill of $496 lands roughly 60% 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.
Marlboro County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Marlboro County | South Carolina Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Very low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.4% | - | - |
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.
Marlboro County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · South Carolina counties.
Marlboro County bill trail · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $496 +4.4% | 0.60% |
| 2023 | $475 -2.5% | 0.64% |
| 2022 | $487 +19.4% | 0.63% |
| 2021 | $408 -2.9% | 0.62% |
| 2020 | $420 | 0.59% |
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.
Marlboro County: tax takes only 1.4% of income
Counties near Marlboro County's median bill
On effective rate, Marlboro County sits nearest Tillamook County (OR), Hughes County (OK), Delaware County (OK).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Hamilton County (KS), Las Animas County (CO), Highland County (OH).
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
Marlboro County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 150 of 10,320 returns from Marlboro County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,280 - 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
Marlboro County bill FAQs
- How does Marlboro County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Marlboro County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.60% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Marlboro County?
- Property taxes in Marlboro County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.4% of the $34,301 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Marlboro County, South Carolina?
- The median annual property tax in Marlboro County is $496, an effective rate of 0.60% on a $82,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Marlboro County?
- Marlboro County, South Carolina scores B+ (77/100) 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+ ($496/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.
- Are property taxes increasing in Marlboro County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Marlboro County climbed 18.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $420 to $496, 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 to do with Marlboro County's LIGHT bill
Marlboro County's $496 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 1.4% of Marlboro County's $34,301 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Marlboro 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: 0.60%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $496/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Marlboro County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Marlboro County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
DeKalb County, AL
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Marlboro County at $496/yr; rate 0.32% vs Marlboro County 0.60%.
Lawrence County, AL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $497/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.29% vs Marlboro County 0.60%.
Lafayette County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $494/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.61% vs Marlboro County 0.60%.
Desha County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $493/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 0.54% vs Marlboro County 0.60%.
South Carolina county set
State ACS overview for every published South Carolina county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Marlboro County stamps QUIET · 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 Marlboro County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.