Myrtle Beach-area historically Black town loses nearly half its population
Atlantic Beach, a historically Black town that attracts thousands each year for the Grand Strand’s Black Bike Week, lost nearly half its population in the last decade.
The town shrunk from 334 people to just 195. It stands out as one of the very few areas in Horry County that lost population between 2010 and 2020. Most other areas, including Conway, Garden City, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, all increased in population.
The decline in Atlantic Beach’s population came primarily from the loss of more than half of its Black population. In 2010, 182 Black people lived in the town. By 2020, that number had fallen to just 88. The town also saw a 78% decline in its Hispanic population, going from 55 people in 2010 to 12 in 2020. The town’s non-Hispanic white population only fell by 17%, or nine people.
Atlantic Beach’s decreasing ethnic and racial diversity comes as the growth in white populations in Myrtle Beach proper and North Myrtle Beach outpaced all other groups.
In North Myrtle Beach, the non-Hispanic white population grew by 39% while Black and Hispanic populations each declined by 8%. In Myrtle Beach, the non-Hispanic white population increased by 30% while the Black and Hispanic populations increased by 25.2% and 14.9%, respectively.
However, in towns farther from the coast, the Hispanic population was sometimes the fastest growing group. By percentage, Hispanic people were the fastest growing ethnic group in Conway, Socastee and Forestbrook. Though in all three of those cities, white people still increased in raw number of population growth. For example, Conway saw a 135% increase in its Hispanic population, or 676 people, and its white population saw a 50% increase, or 5,061 people.
Data on the change in the age of Horry County’s population was limited, though it is widely estimated that the many more retirees have moved here in the last several years.
From 2010 to 2020, the population 18 and up rose by 35%, or 75,033, and the population under 18 rose by 12.4%, or 6,705 people.
The adult population now reflects even greater share of the county’s total than children, in a possible reflection of the rise of retirees moving here. Children made up 20.1% of the population in 2010, and 21.3% in 2000, but they now make up just 17.4%.
More specific age related data, that might show whether the county’s working-age population (18-65), is not yet available. Once that data is released, however, it will help paint a picture as to what might be causing the county’s current worker shortage.
Some local leaders, for example, have blamed the county’s worker shortage problems on a decline in the working age population ever since the Air Force base shut down in 1993, taking with it spouses and children of military members, people who often worked in the hospitality industry.
