Retiring in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Retiring in Murrells Inlet: overview

Murrells Inlet is in Georgetown and Horry counties, South Carolina, within the Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach region.

Murrells Inlet is a community rather than a city. It does not appear among the municipal millage lines in either Horry County's or Georgetown County's 2025 schedules in the South Carolina Association of Counties' tax-rate report, which list Atlantic Beach, Aynor, Briarcliffe Acres, Conway, Loris, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach for Horry, and Andrews and Georgetown for Georgetown. A buyer deals with county government instead of a town hall, and the county that bills the parcel depends on which side of the county line it sits.

Georgetown County's tourism page places Murrells Inlet among the beach communities of its Hammock Coast and calls it the "Seafood Capital of South Carolina," originally a fishing village on a protected inlet. The Murrells Inlet MarshWalk is described there as a half-mile boardwalk on the banks of the inlet with restaurants, shops, parasailing, jet skiing and fishing excursions. The Horry County side carries its own Murrells Inlet Fire District levy, and the Georgetown side is served by the fire district the report labels Fire District #3 (MI/GC).

That structure is the practical core of the retirement question here: two counties with different school millage, fees, reassessment timing and evacuation plans meet in one community. The area lies south of Myrtle Beach and south of North Myrtle Beach along the coast. This page covers the mechanics that affect a move: tax layers, evacuation, healthcare and the county-line question.

Cost of living in Murrells Inlet

Recurring tax and fee structures shape living costs here. Horry County's 2025 schedule lists a $50 per-vehicle road maintenance fee and, for single-family residences in unincorporated areas, an $89 stormwater fee. Georgetown County's schedule lists a $44 landfill fee per residential unit, a $50 per-vehicle road fee and a $52 stormwater fee per residence in unincorporated areas. Which set applies depends on the county that bills the parcel.

Because the two counties differ, compare two tax bills for any two homes you consider, even if they are a short drive apart. A difference in county can matter as much as a difference in price per square foot.

Property taxes in Murrells Inlet

Millage appears in the state report as a decimal of assessed value; for example, 0.0521 equals 52.1 mills, or $52.10 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. On the Horry side, the 2025 report shows countywide millage of 0.0521 (county operations 0.0439, capital planning 0.0037, recreation 0.0019, higher education 0.0006, Horry-Georgetown Technical College 0.0016 and senior citizens fund 0.0004). Horry County Schools levy 0.1091 operating and 0.0100 debt. The report lists a Murrells Inlet Fire District levy of 0.0280 (28.0 mills) for Murrells Inlet on the Horry side. Other unincorporated Horry areas pay a 0.0202 county fire district levy and a 0.0015 fire apparatus replacement levy, and the report words both as applying to unincorporated areas except Murrells Inlet. Unincorporated areas also carry an 0.0081 solid waste program levy. One Horry mill was worth about $3,890,000 in 2025.

On the Georgetown side, the same report lists school operating millage of 0.1200 and school debt millage of 0.0260. It lists three county fire districts: Fire District #1 (County) at 0.0325, Fire District #2 (Midway) at 0.0131 and Fire District #3 (MI/GC) at 0.0280, which is 28.0 mills. The MI/GC label refers to Murrells Inlet and Garden City, so a Georgetown-side parcel in Murrells Inlet is expected to fall in District #3, and the same report applies a 0.0032 recycling levy in specified districts. Confirm the parcel's taxing districts with the Georgetown County Auditor, since the report lists districts by label rather than by street.

South Carolina taxes owner-occupied residential property that qualifies for the 4 percent assessment ratio at a lower effective rate; the counties association notes that such property is exempt from school operating taxes other than school-debt mills, and Georgetown County's auditor page says that legislation in 2007 completely exempts school operating taxes for owner-occupied legal residences that qualify under state law. Horry County's reassessment took effect as of December 31, 2023, with a 15 percent cap on the increase in taxable value over five years for existing property unless it was purchased in the current year. Georgetown County's assessor describes a 2025 reassessment with the same 15 percent five-year cap unless a property is sold or improved, 90 days to appeal a notice and a state-required roll back of millage by the countywide increase in value. For owners over 65, the South Carolina Department of Revenue describes a homestead exemption on the first $50,000 of fair market value of a legal residence, temporarily raised to $75,000 for tax year 2026 only, and Georgetown County's auditor describes the same $50,000 exemption for owners over 65, the totally and permanently disabled and the legally blind. Apply through the county auditor that bills the parcel. The South Carolina retirement tax guide covers the state income tax.

Insurance and risk in Murrells Inlet

The south end of the Horry coast is where the county's evacuation description meets the Georgetown County line. Horry's Zone A includes areas east of U.S. Business 17 (South Kings Highway) from Myrtle Beach State Park to the Georgetown County line, with coastal fluctuations in Surfside Beach and Garden City. Zone B includes areas between the Georgetown County line, TPC Boulevard, Highway 707 and Highway 17. On the Georgetown side, Zone A is areas east of U.S. Highway 17 from the Charleston County line to the Horry County line.

The county's evacuation page gives a different route for each stretch. Evacuees from Garden City Beach south to Winyah Bay take US 17 south through Georgetown and then US 521 to SC 261 to US 378 toward Columbia, or US 17 south to US 701 in Georgetown to SC 51 to US 378 at Kingsburg. That means a Murrells Inlet evacuee may be routed through Georgetown County rather than inland through Conway, so check the county's evacuation map for the address.

SCEMD's 2025 figures show Horry residents by zone (11,917 in A, 27,348 in B, 101,912 in C) and Georgetown residents by zone (12,637 in A, 34,205 in B, 3,259 in C), and its 2026 clearance-time tables cover the two counties together as the Northern Hurricane Region, from 11.8 to 29.4 hours depending on the zones evacuated, compliance and visitor occupancy. Horry County advises people near waterways and in mobile homes to consider evacuating even outside a designated zone. The coastal hurricane and flood insurance guide covers coverage; obtain address-specific quotes and flood-zone information before making an offer.

Healthcare access in Murrells Inlet

Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital in Murrells Inlet appears on the South Carolina Department of Public Health's trauma system list as an Adult Level IV trauma center in the Pee Dee region. The same list names Conway Medical Center as an Adult Level III center, McLeod Health Seacoast as a Level IV center and Grand Strand Medical Center as an Adult Level I and Pediatric Level II center. A trauma designation describes emergency capability for injuries, not the full range of specialty care.

Conway Medical Center's website lists Murrells Inlet among the regions in its Find Care Near You directory, and says it provides 50-plus specialties across Horry County and beyond. The hospital itself is at 300 Singleton Ridge Road in Conway and reports 222 inpatient beds, about 200 physicians and a relationship with Novant Health since August 2023. McLeod Health lists Seacoast and Carolina Forest among its locations.

The Horry County assessment describes a growing older population, projecting about 20 percent growth in the 65-plus group between 2023 and 2028, and reports that Garden City and Little River skew older, with median ages above 60. Check the drive time to the hospital or urgent-care site you would actually use and confirm that your physicians accept your Medicare plan. The healthcare access guide describes how to compare networks.

Climate in Murrells Inlet

Hurricane season in the county's annex runs June 1 through November 30. The county expects several days of warning for most systems, but cites Hurricane Gaston in 2004, which intensified from a tropical depression to a hurricane in 48 hours about 140 miles off the coast, as a reminder that a system can develop quickly. Evacuation of the affected zones is meant to be complete before tropical-storm-force winds arrive, so the order may come days before landfall.

Murrells Inlet's tidal creeks and marsh mean that flooding may not follow the ocean-facing pattern of the evacuation zones. Horry County specifically advises that anyone in flood-prone areas along area waterways should consider evacuating whether or not they are in a designated zone, and its flood resources page lists NOAA river gauges and a coastal flood exposure mapper.

Lifestyle and recreation in Murrells Inlet

Georgetown County's tourism page puts two of the Hammock Coast's best-known sites between the business districts of Murrells Inlet and Litchfield Beach. Brookgreen Gardens is described as a 9,127-acre botanical and sculpture garden that has drawn visitors since the 1930s and includes the only accredited zoo on the South Carolina coast. Huntington Beach State Park, across Ocean Highway, offers camping, access to an undeveloped beach and tours of Atalaya Castle, and the page cites Southern Living as calling it the top birding spot on the East Coast.

The same page counts 12 public golf courses within a 15-minute drive across the Hammock Coast, with a Hammock Coast Golf Trail that packages them. Expect the MarshWalk and the inlet restaurant scene to be busiest during the visitor season, a tradeoff for year-round residents.

A practical advantage of the location is proximity to Myrtle Beach International Airport, which lists more than 50 nonstop destinations and 10 airline partners, and to the city amenities described on the Myrtle Beach page.

Housing in Murrells Inlet

Housing stock in unincorporated Horry and Georgetown County areas includes mobile and manufactured housing in significant numbers: SCEMD counts 3,256 mobile homes in Horry Zone A, 2,126 in Zone B and 4,903 in Zone C, and 732, 2,062 and 736 in Georgetown Zones A, B and C (2023 five-year estimates). For any property, request the flood zone determination, insurance loss history and association documents.

Places near Murrells Inlet

• Surfside BeachA two-square-mile Horry County oceanfront town between Myrtle Beach and Garden City with 36 public beach access points, a fishing pier, a Community Rating System Class 7 flood-insurance discount and a long local identity as a family beach where people both visit and retire.
• Myrtle BeachSouth Carolina's largest Grand Strand city, in Horry County, with the region's commercial airport, a mid-sized resident population, a city millage of 0.0834 and an oceanfront that falls in the county's Zone A and B evacuation areas.
• Pawleys IslandA small Georgetown County barrier-island town incorporated in 1985, entirely within the flood hazard area, with a Community Rating System Class 5 flood-insurance discount and V-zone construction rules applied townwide.

Guides relevant to Murrells Inlet

• Healthcare Access Across the Carolinas: Hospitals, Trauma Centers and Medicare
• Hurricane, Flood and Wind Insurance on the Carolina Coast: What Retirees Should Know
• South Carolina Retirement Taxes: Income, Property, Vehicle and Sales Tax