South Carolina's post-judgment interest rate is straightforward compared to states like Georgia or Michigan: it's 8.75% per year, fixed by statute under S.C. Code Ann. § 34-31-20(B), and it doesn't change with the prime rate or any other index. A judgment entered today carries the same rate as one entered five years ago.
What makes South Carolina unusual is the combination of a high fixed interest rate and a prohibition on wage garnishment for most private debts. Under S.C. Code § 37-5-104, creditors with money judgments generally cannot garnish wages in South Carolina — but the judgment still grows at 8.75% annually. To collect, creditors must use bank account levies, property liens, or other enforcement methods.
The interest calculation itself is simple: 8.75% per year on the principal amount of the judgment, with no compounding. Use the calculator above to estimate how fast an unpaid South Carolina money judgment grows.
South Carolina's Fixed 8.75% Rate: How It Compares to Variable-Rate States
S.C. Code Ann. § 34-31-20(B) sets South Carolina's post-judgment interest rate for civil money judgments at a fixed 8.75% per year. That design is the opposite of Georgia's prime + 3% entry-date formula and Michigan's twice-yearly T-note + 1% certification.
What "fixed" means in practice: — No Federal Reserve prime lookup on the judgment date — No January/July rate windows — No need to ask whether this month's Treasury yield changed the rate — The same 8.75% applies for modeling a 2021 judgment and a 2026 judgment under the statutory fixed rate (unless a different contractual or statutory rule controls a specific claim type)
Why predictability matters: Creditors can forecast growth without market data. Debtors can calculate payoff without arguing about which prime applied on which Tuesday. The tradeoff is that 8.75% can sit above or below market-linked rates in any given year — but the statute chose certainty.
Regional and national comparison (planning rates): — South Carolina: 8.75% fixed (§ 34-31-20(B)) — Ohio: 7% (ORC § 1343.03 contexts) — Illinois: 9% standard post-judgment (735 ILCS 5/2-1303) — Georgia: prime on entry + 3% (about 10.50% mid-2026 if prime ≈ 7.50%) — Federal (28 U.S.C. § 1961): about 4.02% mid-2026
On $100,000 for one year: SC 8.75%: $8,750 IL 9%: $9,000 OH 7%: $7,000 Federal ~4.02%: $4,020 Gap SC vs federal: about $4,730 (4.73 percentage points × $100,000)
Critical differential #1: Fixed vs variable. Do not import Georgia's "look up prime" habit into a South Carolina file, and do not import South Carolina's 8.75% into a Georgia file that should use entry-date prime + 3%.
Official orientation: — S.C. Code Ann. § 34-31-20(B) — S.C. Code § 37-5-104 (wage garnishment limits for consumer credit) — South Carolina Judicial Department: https://www.sccourts.org
TheLegalCalc South Carolina calculator: /judgment-interest-calculator/south-carolina
The Calculation: Simple Interest on the Principal Only
South Carolina post-judgment interest under § 34-31-20(B) is modeled as simple interest on the unpaid principal at 8.75% per year. It does not compound annually in the ordinary teaching model.
Formula: Interest = Principal × 0.0875 × Years Or: Interest = Principal × 0.0875 × (Days ÷ 365)
Daily rate on any principal: Daily = Principal × 0.0875 ÷ 365
Examples:
A) $50,000 × 8.75% × 3 years = $13,125 Total with principal: $63,125
B) $100,000 for 365 days: Annual interest = $8,750 Daily interest ≈ $23.97
C) $200,000 × 8.75% × 5 years = $87,500 Total with principal: $287,500
D) $100,000 for 180 days: $100,000 × 0.0875 × (180 ÷ 365) ≈ $4,315.07
What simple interest means: Year 2 interest is calculated on unpaid principal, not on Year 1 interest already accrued. If $8,750 of interest accrued in Year 1 on a still-unpaid $100,000 judgment, Year 2 still uses the $100,000 principal base for the statutory simple-interest model (absent a different court order).
Partial payments: Credits reduce principal. Recalculate remaining interest after each payment. Document dates carefully — on $200,000, each day is nearly $48 at 8.75%.
Contrast with compounding states: If a tool silently compounds 8.75% for five years on $200,000, it will overstate South Carolina's simple-interest statutory model. Always confirm the calculator uses simple interest.
Step-by-Step: Calculating SC Judgment Interest
Step 1 — Confirm you have a South Carolina civil money judgment in the § 34-31-20(B) lane (not a claim type with a different statutory rate).
Step 2 — Confirm the judgment entry date (interest generally starts at judgment, not at complaint filing — unlike many Michigan money judgments under MCL § 600.6013).
Step 3 — Use 8.75% as the annual rate for the statutory fixed post-judgment model.
Step 4 — Confirm unpaid principal after credits.
Step 5 — Count days from judgment entry to the proposed payoff date.
Step 6 — Apply: Interest = Principal × 0.0875 × (Days ÷ 365)
Step 7 — Add interest to principal for a total payoff estimate (plus any separately ordered costs/fees as applicable).
Step 8 — Run the same inputs in /judgment-interest-calculator/south-carolina as a check.
Worked walkthrough — $50,000 unpaid for three years: $50,000 × 0.0875 × 3 = $13,125 interest Payoff estimate before extra costs: $63,125
Worked walkthrough — $100,000 unpaid for one year: Interest = $8,750 Daily burn ≈ $23.97 A 30-day payoff delay costs about $719
Worked walkthrough — $200,000 unpaid for five years: Interest = $87,500 That is why a high fixed rate plus slow collection (no private wage garnishment) can produce large balances even when monthly cash flow from wages is unavailable to the creditor.
No Wage Garnishment — But Interest Still Accrues at 8.75%
Critical differential #2 for South Carolina: collection method and interest accrual are separate problems.
Under S.C. Code § 37-5-104, South Carolina generally prohibits wage garnishment for most private consumer debts. Along with a small group of other states, SC is known for blocking ordinary judgment creditors from taking wages through garnishment the way creditors can in California or Illinois.
What that does not mean: It does not freeze the judgment at its face amount. The judgment can still accrue statutory post-judgment interest at 8.75% under § 34-31-20(B) while the creditor pursues other enforcement tools.
Common alternative enforcement paths (high-level planning concepts — not a how-to for evasion or harassment): — Bank account levies / attachment of non-wage assets — Judgment liens against real property — Other execution methods available under South Carolina procedure
Why users get confused: Search results about "South Carolina no wage garnishment" are often misread as "judgments don't grow" or "creditors can't collect." The accurate statement is narrower: wage garnishment for many private debts is restricted, but interest and non-wage collection can continue.
Modeling implication: A $100,000 SC judgment left unpaid for five years is not "stuck" at $100,000 merely because wages are hard to garnish. At 8.75% simple interest, five years adds $43,750 — before costs. That is why payoff timing still matters in a no-garnishment state.
Always separate: 1) What interest rate applies (§ 34-31-20(B) → 8.75%) 2) What collection remedies are available (§ 37-5-104 and related execution rules) Mixing those questions produces bad legal and bad arithmetic conclusions.
How Long Does SC Judgment Interest Run?
South Carolina post-judgment interest generally runs from the date of the judgment until the judgment is paid or otherwise satisfied. The start-date contrast with Michigan is important: Michigan often keys covered money-judgment interest to complaint filing under MCL § 600.6013, while South Carolina's ordinary post-judgment story begins at judgment entry.
Appeals: A notice of appeal does not automatically stop interest. Stays and bonds can affect enforceability; read the order.
Dormancy / revival: Long-uncollected judgments may face procedural limits on enforcement. Interest modeling for decade-old judgments should confirm the judgment remains enforceable under South Carolina procedure.
Partial payments: Reduce principal and recalculate. On large balances, even short delays are expensive at 8.75%.
Practical timeline checklist: 1) Judgment entry date 2) Rate: 8.75% 3) Unpaid principal 4) Day count to payoff 5) Simple interest only 6) Credits applied chronologically
If you are comparing a Michigan filing-date judgment to a South Carolina judgment-date judgment in the same multi-state dispute, apply each state's start-date rule separately. Importing Michigan's filing-date habit into SC overstates interest; importing SC's judgment-date habit into Michigan understates it.
Extended example — three unpaid years on $75,000: Yearly interest at 8.75%: $75,000 × 0.0875 = $6,562.50 Three years simple: $19,687.50 Total with principal: $94,687.50
Same principal unpaid 90 days: $75,000 × 0.0875 × (90 ÷ 365) ≈ $1,618.15
Those figures show why delaying payoff still has a measurable daily cost in South Carolina even when wages cannot be garnished. The interest statute does not wait for a convenient collection remedy to appear.
SC vs Federal Rate: A 4.73-Point Difference
Critical differential #3: South Carolina's fixed 8.75% sits far above the federal post-judgment rate under 28 U.S.C. § 1961 (about 4.02% in mid-2026 discussions).
Gap: 8.75% − 4.02% = 4.73 percentage points.
On $100,000 for one year: SC: $8,750 Federal ~4.02%: $4,020 Difference: $4,730
On $200,000 for five years (simple interest teaching model): SC: $200,000 × 0.0875 × 5 = $87,500 Federal at a constant 4.02%: $200,000 × 0.0402 × 5 = $40,200 Difference: $47,300
On $50,000 for two years: SC: $50,000 × 0.0875 × 2 = $8,750 Federal at 4.02%: $50,000 × 0.0402 × 2 = $4,020 Difference: $4,730 — the same dollar gap as the $100,000 one-year example, illustrating that the 4.73-point spread scales linearly with principal × time under simple interest.
When to use which rate: — South Carolina state-court money judgments → § 34-31-20(B) 8.75% — Federal-court money judgments → 28 U.S.C. § 1961 (weekly Treasury-based rate)
Do not apply 8.75% to a federal judgment merely because the parties live in South Carolina, and do not apply the federal rate to an SC state judgment merely because it is lower.
Compared with other fixed-rate states, SC (8.75%) sits between Ohio (7%) and Illinois (9%) — one of the higher fixed statutory post-judgment rates in the country, and much higher than federal. That ranking is exactly why SC payoff estimates surprise people who borrowed a federal "about 4%" mental model from a national chart.
Settlement planning tip: when parties negotiate a lump-sum payoff, calculate accrued interest to a specific date rather than ignoring the 8.75% burn rate because wage garnishment is unavailable. Non-wage enforcement plus high fixed interest is still a costly combination for delay.
Written Contracts: Do They Change the SC Rate?
The teaching default for South Carolina civil money judgments under § 34-31-20(B) is the fixed 8.75% statutory rate. Written contracts can still matter when the judgment enforces a note or agreement that specified its own interest terms, or when another statute supplies a different rate for a specialized claim.
Modeling discipline: 1) Read the judgment for any rate stated on its face. 2) Read the underlying written instrument if the claim is contractual. 3) Determine whether § 34-31-20(B)'s 8.75% controls or whether a contract/statute points elsewhere. 4) Only then run the simple-interest formula.
For the common case — an ordinary civil money judgment without a superseding contractual rate — use 8.75%. That is the rate this guide and the South Carolina calculator are built to explain.
Do not assume that because Georgia requires a prime lookup, South Carolina does too. Do not assume that because SC blocks many wage garnishments, interest stops. The correct SC planning defaults are: fixed 8.75%, simple interest, judgment-date start, non-wage enforcement for many private debts.
South Carolina Courts and the Calculator
South Carolina judgment interest is one of the cleaner state models to calculate — and one of the easier to misunderstand because of the wage-garnishment rule.
Primary authorities: — S.C. Code Ann. § 34-31-20(B) (8.75% post-judgment interest) — S.C. Code § 37-5-104 (limits on wage garnishment for many private debts) — South Carolina Judicial Department: https://www.sccourts.org
Free planning calculator: /judgment-interest-calculator/south-carolina
How to use this page with the calculator: 1) Confirm judgment entry date and unpaid principal. 2) Apply 8.75% simple interest for the statutory post-judgment model. 3) Estimate payoff. 4) Separately evaluate collection remedies (bank levy, liens) — do not confuse "no wage garnishment" with "no interest."
Remember the three differentials: fixed 8.75% (not prime-linked), high fixed rate versus federal (~4.73pp gap), and interest that continues even when private wage garnishment is restricted.
If you only remember one sentence: South Carolina makes the arithmetic easy and the collection path harder — calculate 8.75% simple interest from judgment entry, then plan enforcement around non-wage remedies rather than assuming a payroll garnish will fund the payoff.
South Carolina post-judgment interest is governed by S.C. Code Ann. § 34-31-20(B) at a fixed rate of 8.75% per year. This rate applies to civil money judgments. Wage garnishment rules under § 37-5-104 are separate. This is a planning estimate — not legal advice. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney.
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Frequently asked questions
South Carolina post-judgment interest is a fixed 8.75% per year under S.C. Code Ann. § 34-31-20(B). It does not change with the Federal Reserve prime rate. A judgment entered in 2026 uses the same statutory 8.75% rate as one entered years earlier under this fixed-rate model (unless a different contractual or specialized statutory rate applies).
Use simple interest: Interest = Principal × 0.0875 × (Days ÷ 365), or Principal × 0.0875 × Years for whole years. Example: $50,000 unpaid for three years produces $13,125 in interest. On $100,000, daily interest is about $23.97. Partial payments reduce the principal for later accrual.
No — the ordinary statutory model is simple interest on the principal at 8.75%. Year-two interest is calculated on unpaid principal, not on prior interest already accrued. Tools that silently compound will overstate a South Carolina payoff.
For most private consumer debts, South Carolina restricts wage garnishment under S.C. Code § 37-5-104. That does not stop post-judgment interest from accruing at 8.75%, and it does not mean creditors have no remedies — bank levies, property liens, and other execution methods may still be available. Treat garnishment limits and interest accrual as separate questions.
South Carolina post-judgment interest generally starts on the date of the judgment (entry), not the date the complaint was filed. That differs from Michigan's frequent filing-date approach under MCL § 600.6013. Appeals and stays can affect enforceability — read the order before assuming the clock paused.
Related reading
- Ohio Late Fee Laws 2026: Rent Rules and Judgment Interest
Ohio: no statutory late-fee cap; courts test reasonableness. Judgment interest 7% (ORC § 1343.03); contract to 8%. Free OH calc.
- Judgment Interest by State 2026: Rates and How to Calculate
CA 10% (CCP § 685.010). NY 9% (CPLR § 5004). IL 9% (735 ILCS 5/2-1303). Federal ~4.02% (28 U.S.C. § 1961). Free calc.
- Michigan Late Fee Laws 2026: What Landlords Can Charge
Michigan has no statutory late fee cap — but courts apply a reasonableness standard. Judgment interest rate 4.725% in 2026 (MCL § 600.6013). Free calculator.