What a Sumter home costs each year
Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.
Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.
Starts at the typical market value, $199,100; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.
- Property tax$2,277
1.144% of $199,100
- Flat charges on the tax bill$77
County solid waste fee $61 · County stormwater fee $15 · County technology fee $2
- Electricity$1,262
1000 kWh a month $1,262
- Water and sewer$852
7,000 gallons a month on City of Sumter Utilities: water $25, sewer $46 a month
- Trash$156
1 roll cart, $13 a month
- Home insurance$1,571
Typical premium $1,571
A Sumter house at the typical market value ($199,100) costs about $6,200 a year: $2,350 property tax and charges, $850 water and sewer, $160 trash, $1,260 electricity, $1,570 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.
Rates checked Oct 28, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.
Ways to pay less
Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:
Owner-occupants: the 4% legal-residence assessment
A legal residence is assessed at 4% of fair market value instead of 6%.
How: See the SC DOR legal residence guide.
Who serves this house
- Water
- City of Sumter Utilities
- Water rate schedule beginning July 1, 2026, inside city, 5/8 x 3/4 inch meter minimum monthly charge.
- Property tax
- 1.14% of value
- 2025 tax year, Sumter County, City of Sumter
- Sewer
- City of Sumter ordinance
- Sewer rate schedule beginning July 1, 2026
- Electricity
- Duke Energy Progress
- Duke Energy Progress is listed by the city for electric service
Other SC cities
Hardeeville home costsHilton Head Island home costsClemson home costsHanahan home costsFlorence home costsGreenwood home costs
How these numbers are made
- Property tax: Sumter County 2025 millage from the SC Association of Counties: city 112.0 mills, county base 113.9 mills, school bonds 60.0 mills (school operations millage, 162.4, is not charged on an owner-occupied legal residence and is left out). Mills are divided by 1,000 and multiplied by the 4% assessment ratio. 2026 rates were not found, so the 2025 rates are shown as labeled; Sumter reassessed in 2026 and the adopted 2026 rates may be lower.
- Not modeled: the local option sales tax credit (factors 0.002266 or 0.001734 for Sumter) which would lower the legal-residence tax by roughly $350 to $450 a year at the typical value, the fire district millage (average 25.4 mills for 2 districts, roughly $200 a year) which would raise it, and the county road fee (amount not listed). The first two partly offset each other. The county fees listed are countywide.
- Water and sewer: City of Sumter inside-city rates effective July 1, 2026 from the rate ordinance attachments (the attachment is labeled second reading and effective July 1, 2026; the copy found is unsigned). The city's rate plan steps rates up each July 1, so these are the current figures and the next step is expected July 2027. Blocks above 50,000 gallons are shown at the third-block rate.
- Electricity: Duke Energy Progress RES-30 base charges only; fuel and other riders are not included, so real bills are higher. The winter rate above 800 kWh (8.997 cents) is weighted 8/12 with the summer 9.997 cents. Black River Electric Cooperative serves other Sumter addresses; gas (Dominion Energy, Edisto Gas, Palmetto Gas) is not modeled. Real electric bills at 1,000 kWh are higher than shown; the 800 kWh tier boundary and seasonal weighting were not independently verified.
- Trash: city roll cart fee ($13 a month for one cart, $19 for two; default is one cart); the county solid waste fee is on the tax bill. Insurance is the 2022 statewide average; no newer official figure was found.
- Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.
How Sumter compares
A typical Sumter house against the 1000 cities we cover nationwide, using the same default numbers as the total above.
| Per year | Sumter | Median | Where it falls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property tax rate | 1.14% | 1.36% | lower than 674 of the other 982 cities we cover nationwide |
| Water | $306 | $681 | lower than 940 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide |
| Sewer and utility-bill fees | $546 | $692 | lower than 609 of the other 882 cities we cover nationwide |
| Trash | $156 | $336 | lower than 741 of the other 819 cities we cover nationwide |
| Electricity and gas | $1,262 | $2,439 | lower than 981 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide |
| Home insurance | $1,571 | $1,492 | higher than 487 of the other 766 cities we cover nationwide |
| Total | $6,195 | $10,827 | lower than 953 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide |
Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.
Questions to ask your candidates
Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.
1. Water
The fact: Water here costs about $306 a year at typical use, lower than 940 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide.
Ask: "Water here costs about $306 a year at typical use, lower than 940 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"
2. Trash
The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $156 a year for the standard cart, lower than 741 of the other 819 cities we cover nationwide. Where trash is billed through the tax bill or a separate hauler, it is not counted here.
Ask: "Trash pickup here costs about $156 a year for the standard cart, lower than 741 of the other 819 cities we cover nationwide. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"
3. Electricity and gas
The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $1,262 a year, lower than 981 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.
Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $1,262 a year for a typical house, lower than 981 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"
Common questions about Sumter house costs
What is the property tax rate in Sumter?
About 1.14% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year, Sumter County, City of Sumter), plus flat charges on the same bill (County solid waste fee $61, County stormwater fee $15, County technology fee $2).
How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Sumter?
About $5,795 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions, including $77 of flat charges.
How much is the water bill in Sumter?
About $71 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on City of Sumter Utilities.
How much does trash pickup cost in Sumter?
$13 to $19 a month, depending on the trash cart size (1 roll cart, 2 roll carts).
How much does a house in Sumter cost to run each year?
A Sumter house at the typical market value ($199,100) costs about $6,200 a year: $2,350 property tax and charges, $850 water and sewer, $160 trash, $1,260 electricity, $1,570 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.