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Matthews vs Indian Land: North Carolina Town or South Carolina 55+ Address

Matthews, North Carolina, and Indian Land, South Carolina, are both on the Charlotte side of the state line, within reach of the same airport and the same Charlotte health systems. They are very different addresses. Matthews is an incorporated town in southeastern Mecklenburg County with its own government, a hospital in town and mostly conventional housing. Indian Land is an unincorporated part of Lancaster County, South Carolina, with no town property tax, and is best known as the address of the 55+ community Sun City Carolina Lakes.

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Matthews vs Indian Land: the short answer

Matthews, North Carolina, and Indian Land, South Carolina, are both on the Charlotte side of the state line, within reach of the same airport and the same Charlotte health systems. They are very different addresses. Matthews is an incorporated town in southeastern Mecklenburg County with its own government, a hospital in town and mostly conventional housing. Indian Land is an unincorporated part of Lancaster County, South Carolina, with no town property tax, and is best known as the address of the 55+ community Sun City Carolina Lakes.

Because the state line runs between them, this comparison is also a North Carolina versus South Carolina tax decision: property tax, income tax and sales tax each work differently on each side. The sections below set out the rules with the tax year or date for every figure, using the state tax agencies, the Mecklenburg and Lancaster County offices and the existing tax guides. Retirees who choose a home near Charlotte can often shop on both sides of the line, so the useful question is which structure fits the household's income mix and home value. This is general information, not tax advice. The statewide rules are in the NC vs SC tax comparison, North Carolina retirement taxes and South Carolina retirement taxes.

Full profiles: Matthews (North Carolina) and Indian Land (South Carolina).

Which one fits you

Choose Matthews if

  • You want a town with its own government and a hospital in town: Novant Health Matthews Medical Center grew from 157 to 177 beds with a four-story critical care tower, as Novant describes.
  • You prefer one flat North Carolina income tax rate of 3.99 percent for taxable years after 2025, with Social Security benefits deducted on the state return.
  • You want property tax stated as a rate per $100 and you will add the Town of Matthews rate to Mecklenburg County's $0.4927, confirming the adopted figure with the town.
  • You accept an 8.25 percent Mecklenburg County sales tax, against the 6.75 percent the state lists for neighboring Union County.

Choose Indian Land if

  • You want a large, finished 55+ community: the Sun City Carolina Lakes association describes an active 55+ community with more than 5,000 residents, 11 lakes, three swimming pools and an 18-hole public golf course.
  • You are 65 or older and want South Carolina's homestead exemption and legal residence assessment, which the Lancaster County Auditor and Assessor administer, with no town levy on the bill.
  • You have pension, IRA or wage income and want South Carolina's structure of a 1.99 percent first tier and age-linked deductions.
  • You prefer a five-year reassessment cycle with a 15 percent cap on increases in existing property value, and you accept that the first bill after a purchase can be higher than the seller's.

Matthews and Indian Land side by side

DimensionMatthewsIndian Land
Property tax structureMatthews taxpayers pay Mecklenburg County tax plus the Town of Matthews rate. The Department of Revenue's schedule lists the Mecklenburg rate at $0.4927 per $100 for 2025-26, up from $0.4831 in 2024-25 and $0.4731 in 2023-24. The town's own rate is set in its annual budget ordinance and added to the county rate, so get the adopted figure from the town. As our arithmetic and an illustration, the $0.4927 county rate on a $500,000 assessment is $2,463.50, before the town's charge.Indian Land is unincorporated, so the bill comes from Lancaster County, the Lancaster County School District and a special fire district. The Auditor's 2026 millage sheet, revised August 6, 2026, lists a total residential millage of 344.2 mills: county operating 82.2, county debt 2.5 and capital improvement 5.0 (89.7 combined), school operating 181.0 and school debt 65.0 (246.0 combined), USC Lancaster 4.6 and courthouse security 3.9. The 2025 sheet listed 338.2 mills. The sheet says municipal millage is listed only for the City of Lancaster and the Town of Kershaw, and Indian Land is not among them.
What an owner-occupied bill looks likeA North Carolina bill applies the rate to the county's assessed value, which follows market value at each revaluation. Union County, on the other side of the Matthews border, lists $0.4342 for 2025-26 after a 2025 revaluation, against Mecklenburg's $0.4927, but the Department of Revenue's schedule shows the rates and the revaluation year go together, so a lower rate does not automatically mean a lower bill.The Lancaster County Assessor says owner-occupied primary residences qualify for a legal residence discount that lowers the assessment ratio from 6 percent to 4 percent and removes the school operating portion of the bill, and owners apply at the Assessor's office after moving in. The 2026 sheet prints 163.2 mills for that case, which is the 344.2 total less the 181.0 school operating millage. As our arithmetic and not a quote, a home appraised at $500,000 at the 4 percent ratio has an assessed value of $20,000, and 163.2 mills on that is about $3,264, which is $800.50 above the Matthews county-only illustration before the Matthews town rate, fees and any exemptions.
Reappraisal cycleMecklenburg County's Office of Tax Administration says all land and buildings are revalued to market value as of January 1, that the county revalues every four years and that the next revaluation takes place in 2027. The 2027 Uniform Schedules of Values, Standards and Rules were submitted to the Board of County Commissioners on September 1, 2026, so a buyer in 2026 should expect the assessed value, and possibly the rate, to change in 2027.Lancaster County reappraises all real property every five years; the Assessor says the most recent program was the 2025 reassessment with a valuation date of December 31, 2024 and bills mailed in October 2025. The Citizens' Guide says the 2006 Real Property Valuation Act caps increases in existing property value at 15 percent during the five-year cycle, but new construction and improvements are appraised at current market value. Property is also revalued the year after a sale, a non-exempt ownership transfer or new construction.
Relief for homeowners 65 and olderNorth Carolina's Elderly or Disabled Homestead Exclusion under G.S. 105-277.1 removes the greater of $25,000 or 50 percent of appraised value from a permanent residence owned by a resident 65 or older whose income is at or below the limit, which the Department of Revenue's 2026 application states is $38,800. A household above the limit receives nothing from it. The circuit breaker limits tax to 4 percent of income at or below $38,800 and 5 percent of income up to $58,200, defers the rest as a lien and cannot be combined with the exclusion.The Lancaster County Auditor says the Homestead Exemption is separate from the legal residence discount, that the applicant must have lived in South Carolina for a full calendar year and be over 65 (or meet the disability or blindness alternatives) as of December 31 of the prior year, and that the Auditor asks for a mailed paper application with proof of age. The South Carolina Department of Revenue says the exemption covers the first $50,000 of fair market value of a legal residence and that the General Assembly temporarily raised it to $75,000 for tax year 2026 only.
State income taxNorth Carolina's Department of Revenue says the individual income tax rate is 3.99% for taxable years after 2025, with additional rate changes that may apply from 2027 under rate reduction triggers. Social Security benefits taxed on the federal return may be deducted on the state return, and the Bailey exclusion covers certain government retirees with five or more years of creditable service as of August 12, 1989. As our arithmetic and an illustration of rate structure only, $60,000 of taxable income at 3.99 percent is $2,394.South Carolina's Department of Revenue says H. 4216, signed March 30, 2026, sets a rate of 1.99% on income under $30,000 and 5.21%, minus $966, on income of $30,000 and above, and South Carolina deducts up to $3,000 of retirement income before 65 and up to $10,000 from the year a taxpayer reaches 65, plus an age-65 deduction of up to $15,000. As our arithmetic and an illustration of rate structure only, $60,000 of taxable income is $2,160, which is $234 less than the North Carolina illustration. Deductions differ, so this is not a full tax computation.
Sales taxThe Department of Revenue's table lists Mecklenburg County at 8.25%, reflecting an additional 1% local rate effective July 1, 2026, with an asterisk showing that the figure includes the 0.50 percent transit tax, and lists 6.75% for Union County. As our arithmetic, a $10,000 taxable purchase carries $825 of tax in Mecklenburg against $675 in Union.South Carolina's state sales tax rate is 6 percent, and the Department of Revenue lists Lancaster County with a Local Option Sales and Use Tax effective May 1, 1992, which funds a property-tax credit, and a 1% Capital Projects Sales and Use Tax effective May 1, 2023. As our arithmetic, the state rate plus the capital projects tax is at least 7 percent, or $700 on a $10,000 taxable purchase, before the local option tax. York County's capital projects tax took effect May 1, 2025, so compare both counties if you shop across the line.
Healthcare accessNovant Health's Matthews Medical Center offers emergency, cardiovascular, stroke, surgical, maternity and cancer care. A four-story, 150,000-square-foot critical care tower, celebrated at a ribbon cutting on January 24, 2025, added operating rooms, a second fixed MRI and new cardiovascular suites, and the tower project cost $169 million. Novant lists a 4-star overall quality rating from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and a Grade A for safety from the Leapfrog Group.There is no hospital inside Sun City Carolina Lakes, and the nearest hospital can be in a different county or state than a resident's primary-care physician. York County Economic Development describes Atrium Health as a system whose main hospital is in uptown Charlotte, with several locations in York County, and Piedmont Medical Center as a system with two hospitals in Rock Hill and Fort Mill. Time the route from a specific address and check network participation using the healthcare access guide.
Housing and daily lifeThe housing choice in Matthews is mostly conventional, and buyers should ask about HOA dues, special assessments and nearby planned development before writing an offer. Matthews sits on I-485 and US 74 corridors, so plan errands by car. Charlotte Douglas International Airport reported 58.8 million passengers in 2024 and describes a $1 billion new runway scheduled to open in fall 2027.The Sun City Carolina Lakes association lists a Lake House with a multipurpose ballroom, multipurpose rooms, three outdoor pavilions, three swimming pools, golf cart lanes and a disc golf course, and describes the community as active and 55+, with the governing documents setting the age and occupancy rules. Read them before an offer, as the 55-plus versus conventional neighborhood guide explains. The association's homepage says the community is six miles south of Charlotte, so drive to Uptown and the airport before relying on any distance.

Communities worth a look

  • Sun City Carolina LakesEstablished 55+ Del Webb community of more than 5,000 residents on the Catawba River in Indian Land, South Carolina, with two community centers, three pools and an 18-hole public golf course.

Related guides

Sources and review date

Last reviewed . Facts on this page come from the sources below; where a rule or figure can change, check the linked source before relying on it.

  1. 2025-2026 North Carolina County Property Tax Rates for the Last Five Years — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  2. Current Sales and Use Tax Rates — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  3. Social Security and Railroad Retirement Benefits — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  4. Revaluation — Mecklenburg County Office of Tax Administration (accessed 2026-09-30)
  5. Matthews Medical Center: About — Novant Health (accessed 2026-09-30)
  6. Novant Health Matthews Medical Center expands, opens new critical care tower — Novant Health (accessed 2026-09-30)
  7. CLT Breaks Passenger Record with 58.8 Million in 2024 — Charlotte Douglas International Airport (accessed 2026-09-30)
  8. 2026 Millage Rates — Lancaster County Auditor (accessed 2026-09-30)
  9. 2025 Millage Rates — Lancaster County Auditor (accessed 2026-09-30)
  10. Auditor (Homestead Information) — Lancaster County, South Carolina (accessed 2026-09-30)
  11. Assessor — Lancaster County, South Carolina (accessed 2026-09-30)
  12. Citizens’ Guide to Reassessment (2025) — Lancaster County Assessor (accessed 2026-09-30)
  13. Exempt Property — South Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  14. Local Sales Taxes — South Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  15. Healthcare — York County Economic Development (accessed 2026-09-30)
  16. Sun City Carolina Lakes: An Active 55+ Community with Resort-Style Living — Sun City Carolina Lakes (community association) (accessed 2026-09-30)
  17. Premium Amenities — Sun City Carolina Lakes (community association) (accessed 2026-09-30)
  18. Home Buyers — Sun City Carolina Lakes (community association) (accessed 2026-09-30)
  19. Tax Rate Schedules — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  20. Bailey Decision Concerning Federal, State and Local Retirement Benefits — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  21. G.S. 105-277.1 Elderly or disabled property tax homestead exclusion — North Carolina General Assembly (accessed 2026-09-30)
  22. AV-9 Application for Property Tax Relief (2026) — North Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
  23. Information about H. 4216 — South Carolina Department of Revenue (accessed 2026-09-30)
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