Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / South Carolina

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Myrtle Beach is a small city of about 41,000 people in Horry County, South Carolina. It's growing fast: its population is up 14% since 2020. A typical home costs about 6.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Raleigh, is about 147 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom town

Population
40,937
up 14% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$388,800
Horry County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$60,394
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Myrtle Beach area
93.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Myrtle Beach, SC
To Raleigh
147 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.4% below the U.S. average in the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 6.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood458 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 11 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 53.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town23 public schools: 12 elementary, 5 middle and 6 high schools.
  • A hospital close byGrand Strand Regional Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRaleigh is about 147 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Myrtle Beach meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Boom town. The population is up 14% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$388,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Horry County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,261 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,394U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
61%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,209 a yearSouth Carolina: $1,251
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
27%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
17%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
93.6U.S. average = 100 (the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach metro area, not Myrtle Beach alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
40,9372020: 35,972
Median age
47.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
24%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
16%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
34%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (19%); schools, health care and social services (18%); professional and business services (14%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
18 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
14%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
19%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, Myrtle Beach, SC, about 5 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

23 public schools in Myrtle Beach, run by Horry 01 and Limestone Charters Association.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on South Carolina's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
76%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
93%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
34°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
22 a year
Nights at or below freezing
38 a year
Rain and melted snow
57 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
19 feet

Weather stations: Myrtle Beach (5 miles away) and Longwood (28 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, Raleigh.

Horry County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Myrtle Beach Downtown Historic District and the Myrtle Heights-Oak Park Historic District.

Read about Myrtle Beach's history on Wikipedia.

Know Myrtle Beach?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Briarcliffe Acres, SC585 people, 10 miles
  • Atlantic Beach, SC472 people, 12 miles
  • Bucksport, SC (unincorporated)747 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.