In Horry County, there’s a ‘substantial disconnect’ between what people make, can afford
The Myrtle Beach area may have a lower cost of living than other American cities, but experts say there’s a “substantial disconnect” between median housing costs and income levels in Horry County.
The median household income in the county is $48,279, according to the 2018 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. Compared that to the median cost of rent at $939 and a median mortgage payment of $1,269, according to the same dataset.
Bryan Grady, chief research officer at the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority (SC Housing), said Horry County shows clear issues in the relationship between housing and income.
In the county, a person would have to make $19.17 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment without being “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent.
With a lot of service industry jobs available, the mean wage for Horry County renters is around $11 per hour, according to SC Housing’s Needs Assessment Report from August 2019. The minimum wage in South Carolina is $7.25.
“If your average renter is only making $11 per hour, that’s obviously gonna be a limiting factor,” Grady said.
Affordable housing in short supply
Horry County only has enough subsidized housing for one-tenth of the people who need it — the worst rate in South Carolina. Horry County was the fastest-growing area in the state last year, and the trend is projected to continue, which could put further strain on residents looking for housing they can afford, Grady said.
To afford a one-bedroom apartment in Horry County, a renter paid minimum wage would have to work 90 hours a week, according to the Out of Reach report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
If the current trends continue, Grady said it’s possible the Myrtle Beach area will start to follow in the footsteps of Hilton Head Island, where it’s not uncommon for workers to commute 40-50 miles to work each day.
“People are going to have to improvise a solution, whether that’s long distance commuting or doubling up,” Grady said.
SC Housing indicated Horry County is at “high demand for new construction,” with more than 17,500 cost-burdened renters and more than 22,000 cost-burdened homeowners.
The Myrtle Beach city council recently unanimously approved the creation of an advisory board on developing “workforce housing,” which is meant for people of moderate income, specifically city employees or hospitality workers. Areas such as Hilton Head and Santa Barbara, California, have proposed workforce housing as they face similar challenges.
It’s a tourism-based economy
The county’s economy is largely spurred by tourism and hospitality, meaning many employees are paid hourly. The tourism industry is also seasonal, which presents unique obstacles for some workers, according to Taylor Damonte, director of Coastal Carolina University’s Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism. If employees don’t prepare their finances for the off-season, they could be caught off guard when business slows and jobs become more scarce during the winter months.
Horry County loses 12-15 percent of all jobs between July and January, Damonte said. During the lull of tourism and income, some of those workers could fall behind on rent if they don’t save enough during the busy months, Damonte said.
He also said the amount of retirement communities in the Myrtle Beach area impact the economy and housing. As jobs and income increase, housing values usually follow suit. But Damonte said it’s not that simple.
“In our market, it’s not just a function of that, it’s also a function of demand for retirement dwellings,” he said.
How coronavirus impacts it all
Horry County had a housing crisis before the coronavirus pandemic, but Grady said the fallout of COVID-19 will expose further problems.
“As soon as the scale and seriousness of the pandemic came into focus, I realized Horry County is going to have a problem,” Grady said, adding that the county was hit especially hard by lockdowns because of the thriving hospitality industry in the area.
Damonte said the lockdown caused two “virtual winters” for the area’s economy, with hotels and restaurants shuttered during the beginning of the pandemic. Also, since South Carolina’s eviction moratorium expired in mid-May, more than 1,300 evictions have been filed in Horry County, according to court data compiled by The Sun News.
As the federal eviction moratorium outlined in the CARES Act expires, South Carolina prepares for an “avalanche” of evictions, which Grady said was “too much to even think about.”