Buying Land in Kershaw County, South Carolina

Real growth pressure, driven by proximity to Columbia

Kershaw County's population grew from roughly 52,000 in 2000 to over 73,000 by a 2025 estimate -- about a 24% increase across the 2000-2020 span alone -- and the county seat, Camden, itself grew nearly 17% over the same period. That growth is generally attributed to the county's position roughly 30 minutes (about 32 miles) from downtown Columbia, which places it inside that metro area's commuting and development footprint rather than functioning as a standalone rural county. Buyers should weigh that growth trajectory against the county's still-largely-rural land base outside Camden and the town of Kershaw -- infrastructure and services in unincorporated areas have not necessarily kept pace with the population increase, which is precisely what drove the county's 2025 policy response described below.

The 2025 subdivision moratorium and impact fee: confirm current status

On July 22, 2025, Kershaw County Council voted to adopt a temporary countywide moratorium on new residential subdivisions that would create more than five lots, alongside a new development impact-fee ordinance intended to help fund infrastructure strained by the county's growth. Council framed the moratorium as a tool to buy time for staff to finish a comprehensive plan and a rewrite of the county's Zoning and Land Development Regulations, rather than a permanent restriction. The moratorium was extended once (from roughly 180 to 255 days) and ultimately ran until around April 2026.

Rather than reverting to the pre-2025 rules once the moratorium ended, county council approved a package of nine new ordinances -- a Building Permit Allocation System capping annual residential building permits (effective May 13, 2026), new major-subdivision design standards, and increased developer performance guarantees. See our dedicated Subdividing Land in Kershaw County page for the full mechanics. Any buyer planning to subdivide land into more than a handful of lots should confirm current permit-allocation availability and design standards directly with the county's Planning & Zoning office before assuming a project's timeline.

Zoning, septic, and getting the metro-area framing right

Outside the moratorium question, Kershaw County's underlying zoning runs through its Unified Code of Zoning and Land Development Regulations, administered by the county's Planning & Zoning department -- confirm the district and permitted uses for any specific parcel, keeping in mind the code itself is mid-rewrite as of this writing. County staff can clarify whether a given provision reflects the 2016-amended code or a newer draft standard already in informal use.

Septic permitting follows the statewide SC pattern: Regulation 61-56 is a state technical standard, and the permit is issued by SCDES, not a county health department. Kershaw County is served by SCDES's Lancaster-based Environmental Affairs office, which also covers Chester, Lancaster, and York counties. And worth noting directly: Kershaw County's growth pressure is real, but it is substantially a function of Columbia-metro proximity rather than Charlotte-metro spillover -- the Charlotte-adjacent growth story in this part of the state belongs more to Lancaster County's Indian Land area, covered on our Lancaster County page, than to Kershaw County itself.