Is Myrtle Beach an underrated place to live? It may be a ‘hidden gem’ in South Carolina

When Lee and Gayle Hines began vacationing in Myrtle Beach more than a half-century ago, the city was still just growing into itself.

The multi-million boardwalk did not exist, and today’s trendy oceanfront restaurants were dreams of the future.

The Hines first visit in 1968 continues year after year in one of America’s fastest-growing cities. They love the beach.

“It’s perfect,” Gayle said as the couple stood in front of a beachfront accommodation on North Ocean Boulevard for yet another getaway. The couple lives in North Carolina outside of Raleigh but often chooses the South Carolina beaches over those in the northern Carolina.

Melissa and Matthew Henderson agree about the perks of Myrtle Beach. The couple moved to the Market Common area from Denver in the summer of 2020, quickly finding a social network through their local gym.

The Hendersons said they were attracted to the area’s diversity and broad recreational offerings.

“You see for yourself. It’s beautiful, it’s good people out here, good souls. And that’s what really matters.”

Myrtle Beach suffers from a reputation that is not always kind, including a nickname of “dirty”

Myrtle Beach is saddled with a reputation for high crime. The tourism numbers show, of course, that millions visit annually. For the locals, new and long-term, many know the perks of living in The Grand Strand, outside of just tourism.

Myrtle Beach is not only a powerhouse regarding performances in tourism revenue and hotel occupancy rates but also in terms of new residential construction and more frequent inclusion on “Best Of” lists.

Forbes recently named Myrtle Beach the second-best place in South Carolina.

For locals and newcomers alike, outside of the tourist corridor and t-shirt shops, the top quality of life concerns include healthcare access, education, outdoor spaces, festivals and real estate. These combine to make Myrtle Beach an underrated place to live and work.

The capital of South Carolina remains important. Myrtle Beach legislator Sen. Luke Rankin calls the beach home. His long-term professional and political career means he is also influential in Columbia.

“It would be hard to claim (Myrlte Beach) as underrated with so many people moving here,” said Rankin, after an award presentation in Horry County.

Rankin believes that Myrtle Beach is not only growing but also prospering.

“You can look at the sales tax, you can look at every outward example of an area that is growing, and so I think people would consider us the envy of the country,” Rankin said.

Locals benefit from Myrtle Beach’s tourism. Here’s how.

Locals benefit from the massive tourism options provided by Myrtle Beach. Residents in similar size communities without 18 million tourists a year have a much more limited quantity of restaurants, attractions, nightlife, live music, venues, tons of grocery stores and hundreds of restaurants.

With more than 2,000 restaurants spread out across the Grand Strand, families can opt for fast-food breakfasts and five-star dinners. They can shop at any number of novelty shops or drop hundreds at a high-end clothier or winery.

Locals should take pride and comfort in the tourism makeup of the Grand Stand because it is not super concentrated on one business or location. For example, Disney in Orlando.

“We’re not dominated by Disney or Universal or anything like that. I actually think it’s a strength of our destination,” Karen Riordan, chief of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. “When times get a little bit tougher and the pocketbook is stretched, those tickets to those attractions are quite expensive.”

Riordan, also Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s president, said the mix of upscale attractions with affordable options allows the area to bounce back much faster after major economic disruptions like the 2008 Great Recession and COVID-era shutdowns. Which is good for long-term residents and property owners as well.

Myrtle Beach tourism by the numbers:

• Last year, Myrtle Beach set new highs in hotel occupancy rates, airport activity and consumer spending.
• Its lodging recovery rate of 38% year-over-year was tops in the nation, accompanied by nearly $2 billion in spending
• Then in May, U.S. News and World Report put Myrtle Beach at the top of 2022 list as America’s fastest growing city.

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said Myrtle Beach’s performance is often noticed by high-level executives she meets with. The second highest-ranking politician in the state is often seen in Myrtle Beach for political and family events. Her family recently purchased an oceanfront home in June 2020 for slightly more than $1 million.

“I do think (Myrtle Beach) gets a bad rap, and I don’t think it needs to,” she told The Sun News recently. “It’s the No. 1 growing area of our state, and so I think the secret it out about how wonderful Myrtle Beach is. We have guests in all the time, and they think it’s a hidden gem.”

Myrtle Beach’s crime rate is a red herring

Myrtle Beach’s detractors like pointing to FBI crime statistics that, out of context, suggest a hotbed of violent crime and constant danger.

Why? Because the data is compiled based on the city’s full-time residential count rather than the number of people who commute, work, visit or attend events - which swells from 36,543 to 155,000 of average daily people, including tourists.

The city has seen violent and property crime drop by almost a quarter since 2017: From 573 to 451 and 4,331 to 3,056 respectively.

Despite Horry County and Myrtle Beach’s fast growth in population, it is not stopping the list for property and violent crime rates. Total arrests countywide have been early identical the past two years: 18,380 in 2020 and 18,233 last year, but Myrtle Beach tallied nine murders in 2021, according to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division’s 2021 annual report.

Shyrone Darby, 20, said living in Myrtle Beach puts him more at ease than the years he spent in Columbia before moving.

“I feel way more safe, that’s really why I came down here,” Darby — wearing a Myrtle Beach hooded sweatshirt — said while standing at the corner of 13th Avenue N. “I think it’s a cool environment. The spirit be high, they bless homeless people, they bless people in need and that’s what we need.”

When asked to compare Myrtle Beach to Columbia, Darby said he did not have nice things to say about the “Soda City”. Darby said he doesn’t plan on leaving any time soon, either.

Visual journalist Jason Lee contributed to this story.

This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 7:00 AM.