Section 8 payment standards in Barnwell County, SC (FY2026)
Barnwell County, SC · HUD FY2026 · verified 2026-08-16
Most pages that answer this question quote the Fair Market Rent and stop, or tell you to call
your housing authority. Both are incomplete. FMR is not the payment standard. The
payment standard is what a voucher actually pays, and the housing authority sets it independently
within a band the federal rule defines.
3-bedroom payment standard range
$1,004 – $1,227
HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rent for a 3-bedroom here is $1,115. Federal rule lets the housing authority set its payment standard anywhere from 90% to 110% of that, which is the range shown.
2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$930
Payment standard band $837 – $1,023.
Rent ladder, studio to 4-bedroom
$699 · $709 · $930 · $1,115 · $1,231
Each additional bedroom is worth roughly $133 per month in voucher terms in this market.
Versus the state median
-15%
This county's 2-bedroom FMR of $930 sits 15% below the SC county median of $1,098.
Every bedroom count in Barnwell County
| Unit size | FY2026 FMR | Payment standard band (90–110%) |
|---|
| Studio | $699 | $629 – $769 |
| 1 bedroom | $709 | $638 – $780 |
| 2 bedroom | $930 | $837 – $1,023 |
| 3 bedroom | $1,115 | $1,004 – $1,227 |
| 4 bedroom | $1,231 | $1,108 – $1,354 |
The honest caveat. HUD Fair Market Rent is not the voucher payment standard. The local Public Housing Authority sets the payment standard independently, anywhere from 90% to 110% of FMR, and Small Area FMR jurisdictions set it per ZIP code. The band shown is what the rule permits — the actual figure must come from the PHA.
Why the difference matters to a landlord
If the housing authority sets its standard at 110% rather than 90%, a 3-bedroom in
Barnwell County is worth roughly $223
more per month — about $2,676 a year on a single unit.
That is the difference between a deal that works and one that doesn't, and it is not something you
can infer from the FMR alone.
Check a specific address. Enter any US address to get the flood
zone, the assessor record where we have it, the building write-down check, and the deal math using
this county's Fair Market Rent.
Nearby counties
Source
HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026 —
huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html
Payment standard band computed as 90–110% of published FMR per 24 CFR 982.503.
Retrieved 2026-08-16. Where a value is not published, it is omitted rather than estimated.