Pandemic or not, is rent too high in Horry County? Here’s what a new report shows
Even at the height of economic expansion in 2019, nearly a quarter of Horry County renters were spending more than half of their income on housing costs, a report released by the state housing authority concluded.
The coronavirus pandemic has thrust housing issues into the spotlight, but even before 2020 shattered any sense of predictability, Horry County had one of the highest needs for affordable housing in the state. In Horry, 24.9% of renters spent more than 50% of their income on housing, according to statistics from 2015-19 in the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Housing Needs Assessment, released this week by the SC Housing Finance and Development Authority (SC Housing), compiled and analyzed housing statistics and led to a grim picture of the county’s current housing situation.
Housing costs outweigh wages in Horry County and others
As one of the state’s largest counties, Horry ranked fourth in the state for the amount of renters spending more than half of their income on housing, behind only Richland, Charleston and Greenville counties.
That poses a challenge to many families in Horry County, according to Bryan Grady, chief research officer at SC Housing.
“Trying to make a family budget work when you’re spending more than half your income on rent and utilities, that’s not feasible,” he said. “That’s not going to happen.”
The report laid out the difference between average wages and average housing costs in the area, where the job market largely relies on low-wage positions in the restaurant and hospitality industries.
For an average Horry County resident to make enough to afford a standard two-bedroom apartment in the area without housing costs taking more than 30% of income, the average hourly wage would need to increase $7.95, according to the report.
That’s the third-highest disparity in the state, with Dorchester showing more than a $10 difference and Edgefield County wages needing to increase $8.60. For Horry County’s neighbors, it’s a different story. Georgetown County wages lag only $2.83 behind housing costs while Marion County would need a $3.64 bump in wages for the average worker to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
Grady also emphasized that housing relies on other areas of life to be affordable. For example, reliable and affordable transportation is vital for people to get to work, school and other essential places, and overall development is necessary to keep up with the rate of Horry County’s growth.
What is ‘shelter poverty’ and why does it matter?
Another measure in the report, called shelter poverty, is essential to understanding each area’s housing situation, Grady said. Instead of only looking at the percentage of income spent on housing, shelter poverty considers a household’s location, essential spending and other factors.
Rural areas tend to have a higher rate of shelter poverty, according to the report. In coastal Horry County, the rate of shelter poverty is 28.6% while the rest of the county has a rate of 30.5%, the report states.
“If people had housing they could afford, that’s money they would have put into the economy on those basic expenditures,” he said. “But because their housing costs more than they can afford given their income and their household needs, that’s economic activity that doesn’t happen.”
More affordable housing is needed, but is it coming?
The disparity between housing costs and wages combined with the number of renters buckling from housing costs points to a need for affordable housing in the county. For each 100 low-income renters in Horry, only 13 subsidized housing units exist, the report says.
Horry County’s stance as a tourist destination presents “magnified housing need,” Grady said. Not only does the county’s infrastructure need to support residents, but there needs to be enough units for people who visit, retire or live part-time in Horry, specifically in the beach towns that attract vacationers and tourists.
“How many of those low-wage occupations are unable to make ends meet based on their average wage?” he said. “That’s probably what jumps off the page the most.”
Myrtle Beach elected officials announced plans for a “workforce housing” program last year with hopes of providing government and hospitality workers a more affordable and convenient option, as most city employees live outside Myrtle Beach. Those units won’t be ready for move-in until at least next year.
One area where Horry County fared better than most others is eviction filings, which make up less than 20% of renter households. Other counties, like Berkeley, Dorchester, York, Spartanburg, Cherokee and others, are seeing evictions in more than 30% of renter households, according to the report.
The statistics in the report, plus the effects of the pandemic that haven’t shown up in the data yet, raise questions about the stock of affordable housing in Horry County and if it will increase in coming years.
SC Housing provides funding and tax credits for affordable housing projects across the state, but the authority can only give so much attention to each part of the state, Grady said. Two affordable housing projects with around 140 units total were approved last year, and three Horry County projects are being considered in the current application process for more state funding.
