How much do families need to make to live comfortably in Myrtle Beach? Here’s the answer
Living in Myrtle Beach provides many amenities, enticing for people looking to make worthwhile use of their free time.
There are golf courses where participants can lose their golf balls to water hazards or fauna. Pickleball and tennis courts provide opportunities for those seeking bragging rights over their friends and family in low-stakes competition. Retail centers like Broadway at the Beach, Barefoot Landing and the MarshWalk provide shopping options and ample room to walk and talk.
The question becomes, how much does it cost to support yourself and your family while making time for leisure? It depends. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology operates a living wage calculator for cities and counties like Horry County in the United States.
The calculator determines how much an individual would have to make per hour during a more than 2,000-hour work year to support different types of households. Its data was last updated in February 2024.
Here’s the data for Myrtle Beach in 2024:
- A one-adult household without children would need to make $21.31 an hour, $44,324.80 annually, to make a living.
- A two-adult household with only one adult working and two children would need to make $38.56 an hour, $80,204.80 annually, to make a living.
- A two-adult household with both adults working and two children would need to make $24.30 an hour each, $50,731.20 annually each, to make a living.
Living comfortably in the Grand Strand is relatively easier than in other cities in the Palmetto State, such as Hilton Head and Charleston. For example, a one-adult household without children would need to make $24.24 an hour to have a living wage in Charleston-North Charleston and $24.45 an hour in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton.
While living in the Myrtle Beach area is less expensive than other parts of the Palmetto State, people are also moving to the Grand Strand area more than other places across the country.
As one of the most moved-to cities in the United States, the Myrtle Beach area attracts people for different reasons. Some prefer the four seasons’ climate, while others like living at the beach while staying closer to home than in a place like Florida. Retirees are also moving to the area. One of the contributing factors is the cost of living. Indeed, Myrtle Beach has a lower cost of living than other coastal South Carolina cities and its Florida neighbors.
The apartment search website RentCafe has a cost of living calculator that estimates the cost of living in cities compared to the national average. According to RentCafe’s calculator, the cost of living in Myrtle Beach is 7 percent lower than the national average. Compared to areas like Hilton Head Island, Beaufort and Charleston, SC, Myrtle Beach also had a lower cost of living.
The cost of living on Hilton Head Island is four percent higher than the national average, whereas Charleston is two percent below the national average.
