How to start a pet sitting business in South Carolina (2026)

1Pet sitting demand in South Carolina

About 60% of South Carolina households own at least one pet. Military households are a big part of the overnight market: Joint Base Charleston, Fort Jackson in Columbia, Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter, and the Marine Corps installations at Beaufort and Parris Island all bring deployments, training trips and moves. On the coast, snowbirds in Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head travel north for holidays and summer, and Charleston locals leave town for long weekends. Hurricane season, June to November, also brings short-notice changes when trips are cut short or extended.

The biggest markets: Charleston, Greenville / Spartanburg, Columbia, Myrtle Beach / Hilton Head.

2Can you board pets at home in South Carolina?

Visits and overnights in the client's home need no state license. Boarding at your own home is mostly a local question: we found no state boarding kennel license in South Carolina's animal laws (Title 47), unlike Georgia and North Carolina. One state rule does cover home boarders. Under Section 47-3-75, if an owner fails to pick up a pet, you may transfer it to a shelter after ten days only if your written contract allows it and you notify the owner by regular and certified mail, and you must post a written notice of that law where you do business. Counties and cities set their own kennel definitions, dog limits and home business rules, and many suburban HOAs ban boarding, so check with your county zoning office first.

3Set up your business in South Carolina

• File an LLC. $110 one-time filing with the South Carolina Secretary of State. It separates your personal assets from the business, which matters when you hold clients' keys.
• Recurring entity cost: $0, South Carolina LLCs file no annual report and pay no recurring fee — one of the cheapest states to maintain an LLC long-term.
• Get an EIN from the IRS. It is free and takes about 10 minutes online.
• City or county business license: typically $25-100/year. Check your city's revenue or business services site.

South Carolina-specific: South Carolina is one of a handful of states where LLCs have no annual report or annual fee. You file once, pay $110, and the entity stays in good standing without recurring paperwork. (S-corps and C-corps in SC do file annual reports — LLCs don't.)

4Taxes for South Carolina pet sitters

Sales tax: South Carolina sales tax applies to tangible goods and a specific list of services that does not include dog walking or pet sitting. Selling physical products (treats, custom leashes, branded gear) is taxable at 6% state + local. Boarding and grooming are generally not subject to state sales tax either. South Carolina has no state boarding license; check your city or county zoning instead.

State income tax: Progressive state income tax.

Other taxes worth knowing: South Carolina's top income tax rate has been stepping down from 7% in recent years; check the current rate with SCDOR or a local accountant. Reasonable but not zero like Texas or Florida.

Official source: South Carolina Department of Revenue — Sales Tax →

5Insurance and bonding in South Carolina

Get general liability with care, custody and control (bailee) coverage, plus key and lockout coverage, since coastal clients often leave keys and gate codes for weeks at a time. On the coast, write a hurricane plan into your agreement: what happens to the pets if an evacuation order covers the client's home, who can authorize you to move them, and where they go. Confirm your policy covers pets riding in your car. A bond is worth adding once you hire.

• General liability with care, custody and control covers harm to the pets in your care and damage in the client's home.
• Key and lockout coverage pays to rekey a home if you lose a client's key.
• A bond covers theft claims and is a cheap way to reassure new clients.

Workers' comp once you hire: Workers' compensation is required for employers with 4 or more employees (full or part-time). Solo operators and shops with 3 or fewer employees are exempt. 1099 contractors don't count toward the threshold but are subject to standard misclassification scrutiny. South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission →

6What to charge in South Carolina

Typical South Carolina bands for 2026:

• Drop-in visit (30 min): $18 to $28
• Overnight in the client's home: $55 to $90 per night
• Additional pet: +$5-10 per visit

Overnights and peak dates: Expect about $55 to $90 a night, with Charleston and Hilton Head at the top and Columbia lower. Peak dates are Thanksgiving, Christmas, July 4 and spring break, plus local events like the RBC Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head in April and college football weekends in Columbia and Clemson. Charleston stays busy from spring through fall, while Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head add a winter snowbird season.

Check your numbers with the pet sitter rates calculator and the holiday rate calculator.

7Hiring sitters in South Carolina

South Carolina uses the IRS common-law test for classification. 1099 sitter relationships are defensible if structured correctly. The 4-employee workers' comp threshold makes it easy to stay lean — three W-2 sitters is fine, four triggers comp.

South Carolina's Workers' Compensation Commission audits classification when a claim is filed. The 4-employee threshold is the SC-specific cliff: three contractors who get reclassified as employees on audit can put you over the threshold, triggering retroactive comp requirements plus penalties.

8FAQ