Retiring in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

About Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

The Grand Strand is the name used for the long beach coast of northeastern South Carolina. In this guide the Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach region covers the Horry County shoreline and its near-inland neighbors: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet. Del Webb describes its Myrtle Beach-area communities as offering resort-style amenities, beach access and proximity to shopping and entertainment on the Grand Strand.

Retirement here is shaped by numbers that come from Horry County's own community health assessment. Conway Medical Center's 2025 assessment says the county's population is projected at 428,408 in 2025 and that adults 65 and older, who it says now make up over 24 percent of residents, grew by nearly 20 percent between 2020 and the report. Another table in the same report gives a county median age of 49.3 and a 65-plus share of 27 percent, and a health-metrics table gives 25.2 percent; the report does not reconcile the three figures, but all point to a county where older adults are a large and growing group.

The same assessment describes the coast as an older place than the interior: it reports median ages of 60.8 in North Myrtle Beach, 61.8 in the Little River census-designated place and 61.2 in Garden City, against 47 in Myrtle Beach and 37.6 in Carolina Forest. Median household income in the cities is lower than many retirees expect from a resort coast: $53,679 in Myrtle Beach and $72,111 in North Myrtle Beach, and the report counts 16.9 percent of Myrtle Beach residents and 6.1 percent of North Myrtle Beach residents below the poverty line.

A retiree choosing this coast is choosing a county with a large tourism economy, a real hurricane-evacuation burden and a property-tax bill that depends on which municipality or special district a parcel falls in. The sections below state what county, state and developer pages say about each of those, with the year of each figure.

Who Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach fits

• Retirees who want a beach-and-golf coast served by an airport with commercial jet service: Myrtle Beach International Airport says it offers more than 50 nonstop destinations and works with 10 airline partners.
• Buyers comfortable with coastal exposure who will plan for evacuation: Horry County Emergency Management publishes evacuation zones A, B and C, evacuation routes and lane-reversal plans, and expects residents to know their zone before a storm.
• People who want a choice between age-targeted new construction and conventional neighborhoods, such as the 55-plus Del Webb community in North Myrtle Beach where new single-family homes start at $585,990 on the developer's page.
• Retirees who want a large regional hospital system nearby: Conway Medical Center reports 222 inpatient beds and about 200 physicians across 30 specialties, and McLeod Health lists Loris, Seacoast and Carolina Forest locations.

Who may prefer somewhere else

• Retirees who want to avoid evacuation planning. SCEMD's 2026 plan models evacuation of the Horry and Georgetown coast at roughly 12 to 29 hours depending on zones, compliance and visitor occupancy, and the county warns that a hurricane can develop quickly.
• People on a tight fixed income who are sensitive to seasonal crowding: the airport, beaches and highways are built around a large visitor population, which SCEMD's clearance-time tables model as overnight visitors on top of residents.
• Buyers who want a low property-tax environment without reading millage schedules. Horry County's 2025 county millage totals 0.0521, Horry County Schools levy 0.1091 operating plus 0.0100 debt, and cities, fire districts and watershed districts add their own levies.
• Retirees who want dense inpatient services inside every community: much of the healthcare on this coast is concentrated in Conway and the larger Myrtle Beach campuses, with longer drives from smaller coastal communities.

Major tradeoffs in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

• Storm surge and evacuation. Horry County's hurricane zones are based on storm-surge potential rather than storm category, and the county notes that people in flood-prone areas along waterways and in mobile homes should consider evacuating whether or not they are in a designated zone. Only the Governor can order an evacuation in South Carolina, and once ordered it is enforceable as law.
• Residents outside the evacuation zones still share the same roads. SCEMD's 2025 population estimates place 101,912 Horry residents in Zone C, 27,348 in Zone B and 11,917 in Zone A, with 3,256 mobile-home units in Zone A alone (2023 five-year estimate).
• Property-tax design. South Carolina taxes a qualifying primary residence at a 4 percent assessment ratio, and the state counties association notes that owner-occupied homes at that ratio are exempt from school operating taxes except for mills imposed for school bonded debt; the 4 percent ratio is for a qualifying legal residence, so a second-home buyer should ask the county assessor which ratio will apply before estimating a bill.
• Healthcare access is uneven. The Conway Medical Center assessment reports about 12 percent of Horry County residents uninsured in 2023 against 9.1 percent statewide, a primary-care ratio of about 1,870 residents per physician in 2023 and a county unemployment rate of 5.3 percent in August 2025.

Places in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

• 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.
• 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.
• GeorgetownThe Georgetown County seat and South Carolina's third oldest city, a Winyah Bay port with a hospital, a city millage of 0.1258 and its own evacuation route through US 17 and US 521, south of the Horry County beaches.
• Little RiverThe northernmost Grand Strand community on the Intracoastal Waterway, an older-skewing census-designated place (median age 61.8) served by county recreation centers, a county auditor branch office and Conway Medical Center's Little River practice.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

See every place in both states

Housing in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

Housing on this coast ranges from condominiums and older single-family neighborhoods to newer master-planned communities, and condominium and HOA costs vary by building, so check each association's budget. Del Webb North Myrtle Beach, a 55-plus community, lists new single-family homes from $585,990 (2,179 to 2,712 square feet in the Echelon series) and describes a 12,000-square-foot amenity-center clubhouse. Del Webb's own regional page notes that it also builds under its Pulte and Centex brands in Myrtle Beach.

SCEMD's zone tables show the county's housing scale and its manufactured-housing exposure. The 2025 estimates count 6,128 households in Zone A, 14,201 in Zone B and 46,241 in Zone C. The 2023 five-year estimate counts 3,256 mobile homes in Zone A, 2,126 in Zone B and 4,903 in Zone C, which matters for insurance and evacuation planning.

For any purchase, verify the exact parcel's tax district, flood zone and evacuation zone before making an offer. Horry County runs a Know Your Zone tool and a flood-map application, and the county assessor and auditor offices hold the parcel-specific assessment history.

Healthcare in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

Conway Medical Center, at 300 Singleton Ridge Road in Conway, says it has 222 inpatient beds, almost 2,000 staff and about 200 physicians representing 30 specialties, with physician practices from Georgetown to Little River and west into Marion. It says its specialties include general and vascular surgery, weight-loss surgery, joint replacement, spine surgery, critical care, telemetry, inpatient dialysis and palliative care, and that in August 2023 it formed a strategic relationship with Novant Health while remaining an independent nonprofit system with local governance.

McLeod Health lists McLeod Health Loris, McLeod Health Seacoast and McLeod Health Carolina Forest among its locations, and lists emergency/trauma, cardiology, cancer, orthopedics, neurosciences, stroke, primary care, urgent care and telehealth among its services. The Del Webb North Myrtle Beach page describes the community as close to Grand Strand Hospital and other medical offices.

Two caution points from the county assessment: Horry County's primary-care ratio improved from 2,190 residents per physician in 2019 to about 1,870 in 2023 (South Carolina averaged about 2,030), and the county's 65-plus population is projected to grow about 20 percent between 2023 and 2028. Read the healthcare access guide for how to compare systems and insurance networks.

Getting around and airports: Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach International Airport's own site lists more than 50 nonstop destinations, 10 airline partners, TSA PreCheck waits under 10 minutes and general-screening waits of 25 to 35 minutes as posted on the site, and parking at $10 per day in economy lots, $12 in the long-term lot and $32 in the short-term lot. The airport's news items mention a terminal expansion, and it advises arriving two hours before boarding.

Road evacuation routes are fixed by Horry County: SC 9 north for North Myrtle Beach and northward, SC 22 and US 501 for Briarcliffe Acres south to 10th Avenue North, US 501 for Myrtle Beach from 10th Avenue North to the airport, SC 544 to US 501 for the airport south through Surfside Beach, and US 17 south through Georgetown from Garden City Beach south to Winyah Bay. Lane reversal may be used on two sections of US 501, and the county warns that once a driver enters the reversal pattern there is no getting out of it.

Insurance and risk in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

Horry County uses three evacuation zones. Zone A runs along the oceanfront, including areas east of House Creek from the state line to Cherry Grove Beach and east of Kings Road and Ocean Boulevard to Springmaid Beach. Zone B includes areas east of Highway 17 from Little River to Atlantic Beach and areas between the Georgetown County line, TPC Boulevard, Highway 707 and Highway 17. Zone C includes areas between Highway 701 and Highway 544.

SCEMD's 2026 annex models clearance times for the combined Horry and Georgetown evacuation region. For a Zone A evacuation the tables run from 11.8 to 20.8 hours, for Zones A and B from 13.5 to 24.2 hours and for Zones A, B and C from 16.4 to 29.4 hours, depending on resident compliance and overnight visitor occupancy, with lane reversal shortening some scenarios only slightly.

Horry County's flood page points residents to the National Flood Insurance Program, a flood-hazard map application, elevation certificates, a flood disaster brochure, NOAA river gauges and NOAA's coastal flood exposure mapper. The county's hurricane annex says tropical systems can develop quickly and cites Hurricane Gaston in 2004, which developed from a tropical depression to a hurricane in 48 hours about 140 miles off the coast. See the coastal hurricane and flood insurance guide for policy mechanics.

Recreation and lifestyle in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

Golf and beaches define the lifestyle marketing for the area, and developers state it plainly. Del Webb calls Myrtle Beach a top golf destination and notes that the city has eight piers, and its North Myrtle Beach page places the community 3 miles from Barefoot Landing and 25 minutes from Broadway at the Beach.

The amenities inside retirement communities matter as much as the beach for daily life. Del Webb North Myrtle Beach lists a 12,000-square-foot clubhouse, resort-style and indoor lap pools, pickleball and bocce, walking trails and a full-time lifestyle director, and says a community center next door and a 20-acre park with tennis and pickleball courts are nearby.

55+ and active-adult communities in Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

Del Webb North Myrtle Beach is described by its developer as a 55-plus active-adult community; new homes are sold by Del Webb and the homeowners association maintains common areas and amenities. Age rules are set in each community's governing documents, so ask for the recorded covenants and the current HOA budget before buying.

Communities in Grand Strand & 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.
• Del Webb North Myrtle BeachA Del Webb community marketed as 55+ at 1315 Saw Palmetto Street in North Myrtle Beach, with single-family homes from $585,990, a 12,000-square-foot clubhouse and sports courts.

Comparisons and guides for Grand Strand & Myrtle Beach

• Conway vs Carolina Forest: Historic River Town or Large Unincorporated Suburb
• Georgetown vs Pawleys Island: Historic Port City or Flood-Zone Barrier Island
• Little River vs North Myrtle Beach: Unincorporated Waterway Village or Beach City with a Del Webb Community
• Surfside Beach vs Myrtle Beach: Two-Square-Mile Family Beach or the Grand Strand's Largest City
• South Carolina Retirement Taxes: Income, Property, Vehicle and Sales Tax
• Hurricane, Flood and Wind Insurance on the Carolina Coast: What Retirees Should Know
• Healthcare Access Across the Carolinas: Hospitals, Trauma Centers and Medicare
• 55-Plus Community vs. Conventional Neighborhood in the Carolinas