Best PlacesShell, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shell, 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.
Shell ranks 22,259th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shell
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.
Shell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shell ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
Where Shell ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 20% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 34% of towns
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shell
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,784, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Shell's effective rate of 0.37%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shell
Shell runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shell.
Who works in Shell, and how
Work in Shell centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Shell
The coast is about 41 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Shell, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Shell, month by month
Shell sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Shell
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 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shell
Schools across Shell average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Riverside ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Kingston ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Waccamaw ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Myrtle Beach MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Black Water MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Conway MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Carolina Forest HighA · 72% proficient
- North Myrtle Beach HighA− · 66% proficient
- Loris HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shell 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 Shell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shell
Is Shell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shell ranks 22,259th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low property taxes, and low crime, and lowest on disaster risk and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,626. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,784 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Shell safe?
Yes, Shell is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
Compare Shell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shell 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.
Shell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shell 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.