Retiring in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Retiring in Myrtle Beach: overview

Myrtle Beach is in Horry, South Carolina, within the Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach region.

Myrtle Beach is the center of the Horry County coast covered by this guide, which also includes North Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet. Conway Medical Center's 2025 community health needs assessment counts 37,214 residents in the city, with a median age of 47, a median household income of $53,679 and a poverty rate of 16.9 percent. The same report says Myrtle Beach has shorter commutes than several other Horry places but still has notable poverty, which is a useful corrective to the resort image: this is a working city as well as a destination.

The retirement question Myrtle Beach answers is whether a large, tourist-facing coastal city with an airport, regional healthcare and a wide range of housing suits you better than a quieter neighboring town. The airport, hospitals and most services sit within the county's most populous stretch. The price of that convenience is seasonal crowding, evacuation planning and a tax structure with several layers. The sections below give the published numbers for each, with the year of each figure.

Cost of living in Myrtle Beach

Income and recurring-fee figures frame a retirement budget in the city. Conway Medical Center's 2025 assessment reports a median household income of $53,679 in the city, against $72,111 in North Myrtle Beach. The report gives the county median as $64,623 in one section and $68,988 in another and the state median as $66,818, so treat comparisons across these figures as approximate.

Two recurring costs are published directly. Horry County charges a $50 per-vehicle road maintenance fee in the 2025 county tax schedule, and Myrtle Beach International Airport lists parking at $10 per day in its economy lots, $12 in the long-term lot and $32 in the short-term lot, which matters for seasonal residents who fly in and out. Compare recent sold listings for the exact neighborhood and build type before setting a housing budget.

Property taxes in Myrtle Beach

Property tax on a Myrtle Beach home combines several levies. 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. In the South Carolina Association of Counties' 2025 report, Horry County's countywide millage totals 0.0521 (county operations 0.0439, capital planning 0.0037, county recreation 0.0019, higher education 0.0006, Horry-Georgetown Technical College 0.0016 and senior citizens fund 0.0004), the City of Myrtle Beach levies 0.0834, Horry County Schools levy 0.1091 operating plus 0.0100 for debt service, and the report lists a separate 0.0100 Myrtle Beach municipal improvement district. One county mill was worth about $3,890,000 in 2025.

The same report lists neighborhood-level tax districts with a Myrtle Beach location, including the Arcadian Shores watershed district at 0.0277, the Legends Drive tax district at 0.0115 and the Eagle Trace tax district at 0.3000. These are not citywide charges, but they show why a buyer should ask for the exact tax bill of a specific parcel and its tax district rather than relying on an average.

The assessment rules matter as much as the millage. The state counties association notes that owner-occupied residential property qualifying for the 4 percent assessment ratio is exempt from school operating taxes except for mills imposed for school debt. Horry County's reassessment flyer says the last countywide reassessment took effect as of December 31, 2023, replacing December 31, 2018; the law calls for reassessment every four years with implementation in the fifth; existing property is subject to a 15 percent cap on the increase in taxable value over five years unless it was purchased in the current year; and the county must roll back millage after reassessment. A purchase therefore can reset the assessed value.

For owners 65 or older, the South Carolina Department of Revenue says the homestead exemption is a complete exemption from tax on the first $50,000 of fair market value of a legal residence for homeowners over 65, totally and permanently disabled or legally blind, and that for tax year 2026 only the General Assembly temporarily raised the amount to $75,000 through the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget. The Horry County Auditor administers the application. Rates and exemptions change each budget year, so confirm the current amounts with the county. The South Carolina retirement tax guide covers the state income tax side.

Insurance and risk in Myrtle Beach

Horry County's Know Your Zone campaign, built on the 2012 South Carolina Hurricane Evacuation Study, defines three zones by storm-surge vulnerability rather than storm category. In Myrtle Beach, Zone A covers areas east of Kings Road and down Ocean Boulevard to Springmaid Beach and areas east of U.S. Business 17 from Myrtle Beach State Park south; Zone B includes areas east of U.S. Business 17 from the U.S. 22 interchange to Springmaid Beach; and Zone C covers areas between Highways 701 and 544 with some fluctuations to Myrtle Beach International Airport.

SCEMD's 2025 population estimates count 11,917 residents in Horry Zone A, 27,348 in Zone B and 101,912 in Zone C. Its 2026 clearance-time tables for the Horry and Georgetown region run from 11.8 to 20.8 hours for a Zone A evacuation and up to 29.4 hours when Zones A, B and C evacuate with full compliance and full overnight visitor occupancy. Horry County also advises that anyone in flood-prone areas along waterways, and mobile-home residents, should consider evacuating even outside a designated zone.

The county's flood resources page lists the National Flood Insurance Program, a flood-hazard map application, elevation certificates and NOAA's coastal flood exposure mapper. The coastal hurricane and flood insurance guide explains the mechanics, and you should request actual quotes for the address before an offer.

Healthcare access in Myrtle Beach

Conway Medical Center, at 300 Singleton Ridge Road in Conway, reports 222 inpatient beds, almost 2,000 staff and about 200 physicians across 30 specialties, with practices from Georgetown to Little River. It became strategically affiliated with Novant Health in August 2023 while remaining an independent nonprofit with local governance. McLeod Health lists McLeod Health Seacoast and McLeod Health Carolina Forest among its locations, with cardiology, cancer, orthopedic, stroke and emergency services on its service list.

The county's 2025 health assessment shows what the system is responding to. It reports that adults 65 and older are the fastest-growing group, projects about 20 percent growth in that group between 2023 and 2028, and records a primary-care ratio of about 1,870 residents per physician in 2023 against about 2,030 for the state. It also reports about 12 percent of Horry residents uninsured in 2023. The healthcare access guide explains how to check networks before relocating.

Climate in Myrtle Beach

Storm risk is the main climate factor for retirement planning here. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and Horry County's hurricane annex says residents will generally get several days of warning but warns that a system can intensify faster, citing Hurricane Gaston in 2004, which grew from a tropical depression to a hurricane in 48 hours about 140 miles off the coast.

The county's planning is built around completing evacuation of the affected zones before tropical-storm-force winds arrive, which means the decision can come days before landfall. Residents who are not in a zone still face wind, rain and power-outage risk, and the annex assumes that communications and roads may be disrupted after a storm. Keep a plan for a multi-day departure if you live near the water.

Lifestyle and recreation in Myrtle Beach

Del Webb describes Myrtle Beach as a top golf destination, notes that the city has eight piers and lists the Atalaya Arts and Crafts Festival among local events. The Del Webb Myrtle Beach page also highlights beach access and proximity to shopping and entertainment on the Grand Strand. These are developer descriptions, not neutral rankings, but they agree with what the airport's own site stresses: Myrtle Beach International Airport calls itself a gateway with more than 50 nonstop destinations and lists dining, shopping and Wi-Fi inside the terminal.

The City of Myrtle Beach's own site lists Parks, Recreation & Sports Tourism, the Convention Center, a Neighborhood Services Department and a resident parking decal program among its services, which reflects a city that manages visitors and residents together. For a retiree the practical implications are summer traffic and peak-season crowds, balanced by year-round access to airport service and services that smaller coastal towns lack.

Housing in Myrtle Beach

SCEMD's 2025 estimates show 6,128 households in Horry Zone A, 14,201 in Zone B and 46,241 in Zone C, and its 2023 five-year estimate counts 3,256 mobile homes in Zone A, 2,126 in Zone B and 4,903 in Zone C.

Del Webb's Myrtle Beach page lists the Del Webb, Pulte, Centex, DiVosta and John Wieland brands on its community map legend, indicating new-construction options in the area, and a retirement-oriented option on the coast is Del Webb North Myrtle Beach. Condominium and HOA fees vary by building and cannot be summarized for the whole city; ask for the association budget, reserve study and special-assessment history of any condominium you consider.

Buying checklist for a Myrtle Beach retiree

Start with the tax bill, not the listing price: ask the seller or county for the current tax bill and tax district, and request the county's parcel page to see whether the parcel sits in any special district. Confirm whether the legal-residence 4 percent ratio will apply and, if you are 65 or older, apply for the homestead exemption with the county auditor after closing.

Then check the hazard side: look up the parcel in Horry County's Know Your Zone tool and its flood-map application, request an elevation certificate where one exists and obtain written quotes for wind and flood coverage. Finally, plan the healthcare side: confirm that your physicians and plan network include the Conway Medical Center or McLeod facilities you expect to use.

Retirement communities in and near Myrtle Beach

• Cresswind Myrtle BeachA 248-acre Cresswind 55+ community of single-family homes at Market Common in Myrtle Beach, with a 12,000-square-foot clubhouse, pool, pickleball and tennis courts, bocce and an amphitheater.

Comparisons with Myrtle Beach

• Surfside Beach vs Myrtle Beach: Two-Square-Mile Family Beach or the Grand Strand's Largest City
• Wilmington vs Myrtle Beach: Cape Fear City or Grand Strand

Places near Myrtle Beach

• North Myrtle BeachA Horry County coastal city at the northern end of the Grand Strand with an older population, a 0.0450 city tax rate, a SC 9 evacuation route and a Del Webb 55-plus community.
• ConwayThe Horry County seat on the Waccamaw River, home to Conway Medical Center, a 0.0981 city millage and a location inland of the Grand Strand beaches that sits on the county's evacuation highways rather than in a coastal evacuation zone.
• Carolina ForestA large unincorporated, census-designated community in Horry County with a median age of 37.6, county-level taxes and fees, a county recreation center that doubles as an emergency shelter and a named McLeod Health location.
• 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.
• Murrells InletAn unincorporated South Carolina seaside community on the Georgetown-Horry county line, known as the Seafood Capital of South Carolina and a MarshWalk waterfront, where the county that bills a parcel decides its fire district, school millage, fees and reassessment cycle.

Guides relevant to Myrtle Beach

• 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