Best PlacesHorry County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Horry County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Horry County ranks 1,640th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low property taxes and low crime. The weaker spots are disaster risk, an overheated housing market, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Horry County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Horry County
The parts of Horry County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
North Myrtle Beach
More adults hold degrees, biking is better, and local pay stretches further.
Murrells Inlet & Garden City
Fewer homes sit empty, though heat risk is higher.
Myrtle Beach & Socastee
It is noisier and tree cover is thinner.
Little River & Longs
More residents vote, though fewer households have young kids.
Aynor & Galivants Ferry
Homes cost less, though commutes are longer.
Conway & Red Hill
Health care is harder to reach and incomes run lower.
Loris
Prices have run up less, though schools score lower.
Scores across Horry County run from about the 2nd to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Horry County's strengths and weaknesses
Horry County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low property taxes, low crime, and good schools carry most of that.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and summer heat also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Horry County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 81% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 76% of counties
Where Horry County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 27% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Horry County
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Horry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $68,661; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Horry County's effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Horry County
Horry County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Horry County.
Who works in Horry County, and how
Work in Horry County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Horry County
Horry County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 92% of counties. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Horry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Horry County growing, and who is moving in?
Horry County has grown about 39% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Horry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Horry County, month by month
Horry County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 75° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 89° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 78° | 68° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Horry County
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Horry County
Schools across Horry County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ocean Bay ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Palmetto Academy Of Learning And Success CharterA · 70% proficient
- St. James ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ocean Bay MiddleA · 63% proficient
- St. James IntermediateA · 63% proficient
- Waccamaw IntermediateA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Hcs Early College HighA+ · 80% proficient
- St. James HighA · 77% proficient
- Waccamaw HighA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Horry County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Horry County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Horry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Horry County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Horry County
Is Horry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Horry County ranks 1,640th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, low crime, and good schools, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Horry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $293,647. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $68,661 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Horry County safe?
Yes, Horry County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $339 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Horry County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 38. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Horry County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are North Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet & Garden City, and Myrtle Beach & Socastee. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Horry County good for families?
Schools beat 86% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Horry County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 49% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 70% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Horry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Horry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Horry County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Horry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Horry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Horry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Horry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Horry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Horry County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.