Best PlacesNorth Myrtle Beach, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Myrtle Beach, 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.
North Myrtle Beach ranks 16,272nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Myrtle Beach
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.
North Myrtle Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Myrtle Beach ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
Where North Myrtle Beach ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Myrtle Beach
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Myrtle Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,960, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 North Myrtle Beach's effective rate of 0.42%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach 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 North Myrtle Beach.
Who works in North Myrtle Beach, and how
Work in North Myrtle Beach centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns and more parkland per resident than 86% of towns. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of North Myrtle Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Myrtle Beach, month by month
North Myrtle Beach sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 75° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of North Myrtle Beach
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Myrtle Beach
Schools across North Myrtle Beach average an A−, better than 85% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ocean Bay ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Ocean Drive ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Riverside ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ocean Bay MiddleA · 63% proficient
- North Myrtle Beach MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Black Water MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Carolina Forest HighA · 72% proficient
- Myrtle Beach HighA · 68% proficient
- North Myrtle Beach HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Myrtle Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Myrtle Beach 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 North Myrtle Beach against the other 50,332 towns.
Who North Myrtle Beach suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in North Myrtle Beach
Is North Myrtle Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Myrtle Beach ranks 16,272nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, walkability, and biking, 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 North Myrtle Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $399,340. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $77,960 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is North Myrtle Beach safe?
Yes, North Myrtle Beach is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in North Myrtle Beach?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 37. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of towns.
Is North Myrtle Beach good for families?
Schools beat 85% of towns, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Compare North Myrtle Beach with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Myrtle Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Myrtle Beach 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.
North Myrtle Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Myrtle Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Myrtle Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Myrtle Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Myrtle Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Myrtle Beach 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.
- 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.