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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-NORTH-MYRTLE-BEACH-SC · North Myrtle Beach, SC 19,343 pop · income 53rd pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around North Myrtle Beach
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest North Myrtle Beach on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
St. Andrews · lowest
45,321
St. Andrews · lowest
45,321 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #1
Haubstadt · near
72,104
Haubstadt · near
72,104 median HH income
51.3% of the leader · rank #2
Paynesville · near
72,105
Paynesville · near
72,105 median HH income
51.3% of the leader · rank #3
Sunrise · near
72,107
Sunrise · near
72,107 median HH income
51.3% of the leader · rank #4
Eldora · near
72,107
Eldora · near
72,107 median HH income
51.3% of the leader · rank #5
North Myrtle… · this city
72,111
North Myrtle… · this city
72,111 median HH income
51.3% of the leader · rank #6
Five Forks · highest
140,668
Five Forks · highest
140,668 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for North Myrtle Beach on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 19,343.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
North Myrtle Beach - the verdict
Nationally, North Myrtle Beach sits in the 53rd percentile for household income and the 10th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
53rd
percentile, household income
75th
percentile, home value
46th
percentile, median rent
10th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: North Myrtle Beach, SC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 19,343 residents in North Myrtle Beach, a small town within South Carolina. The typical household in North Myrtle Beach brings in $72,111 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.4%. Typical homes in North Myrtle Beach are valued around $371,900, and the median resident age is 60.8 years. Educational attainment runs 39.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 44.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 684 residential building permits were authorized in North Myrtle Beach (Building Boom), up 133% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. North Myrtle Beach's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 3583.5 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in South Carolina run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts South Carolina at 93.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,155 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in South Carolina run around $224, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.7 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of North Myrtle Beach's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to housing and income to comparison shortlist to reported crime to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For North Myrtle Beach, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is North Myrtle Beach growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2,406 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +12.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 684 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
How far does income reach against housing in North Myrtle Beach?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Which cities make useful reference points for North Myrtle Beach?
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Five Forks (19,093 residents, $140,668 income); Wade Hampton (20,703 residents, $75,522 income); Clemson (17,759 residents, $49,713 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Twinsburg, OH (19,346 residents); West Mifflin, PA (19,338 residents); Seminole, FL (19,336 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can the FBI record say about safety in North Myrtle Beach?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3583.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 57% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in North Myrtle Beach?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.6%
Work from home
16.5%
Drive alone
71.4%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 7,663 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for North Myrtle Beach?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 39.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
39.4%
Poverty estimate
4.4%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 4.4% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.7 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
C
City profile score · North Myrtle Beach, SC
57/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B
39.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living B
93.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate B-
4.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C-
$72,111
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
361 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
North Myrtle Beach profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 74/100 (B) · 39.4%
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Poverty rate: 69/100 (B-) · 4.4%
Household income: 52/100 (C-) · $72,111
Violent crime: 25/100 (F) · 361 /100k
Where North Myrtle Beach sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
North Myrtle Beach's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - North Myrtle Beach highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
North Myrtle Beach, SC (this city): home $371,900, crime 3,584/100k
Twinsburg, OH : home $288,700, crime 610/100k
West Mifflin, PA : home $131,400, crime 3,021/100k
Seminole, FL : home $312,700, crime 2,068/100k
Cocoa, FL : home $215,700, crime 4,636/100k
Stillwater, MN : home $398,100, crime 949/100k
Clemson, SC : home $359,100, crime 2,149/100k
West Columbia, SC : home $186,200, crime 5,185/100k
Hanahan, SC : home $339,800, crime 1,644/100k
How does North Myrtle Beach compare to other US cities?
Here's how North Myrtle Beach stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income53% higher than other cities
Home value75% pricier than other cities
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
Safety10% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just South Carolina and the picture shifts: North Myrtle Beach ranks #72 of 127 South Carolina cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares North Myrtle Beach against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to South Carolina only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
South Carolina-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places North Myrtle Beach near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, North Myrtle Beach ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares North Myrtle Beach only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#92 of 403
77th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#36 of 404
91st percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#354 of 439
19th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#59 of 441
87th percentile in South Carolina
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within South Carolina only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
53rd percentile nationally for median household income · 10th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
North Myrtle Beach's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
North Myrtle Beach's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How North Myrtle Beach's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$371,90025th percentilemore affordable than 25% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
North Myrtle Beach's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,135 of 15,516
More affordable than 15% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,694 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.2×, North Myrtle Beach sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,135 of 15,516 and #2,694 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$72,111North Myrtle Beach, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context North Myrtle Beach, SC median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for North Myrtle Beach, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)39.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
19,343
Median Income
$72,111
Median Home Value
$371,900
Median Age
60.8
Poverty Rate
4.4%
Labor force participation
44.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
39.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3583.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
360.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3222.7
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
North Myrtle Beach's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
18,940 residents
2021
19,351 residents
2022
19,902 residents
2023
20,380 residents
2024
20,862 residents
2025
21,346 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
684
housing units authorized
Single-Family
684
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
35.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
294
290
4
$76.8M
2020
380
380
0
$95.1M
2021
465
465
0
$126.7M
2022
505
505
0
$167.0M
2023
461
427
34
$147.1M
2024
684
684
0
$184.6M
Permit volume increased 133% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.4%
Carpool
9.0%
Public Transit
0.6%
Walk
1.3%
Work from Home
16.5%
Other
1.2%
Based on 7,663 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
South Carolina statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $224
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across South Carolina at $224 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are South Carolina statewide averages, not a meter reading for North Myrtle Beach. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
South Carolina's BEA cost-of-living index is 93.7 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around North Myrtle Beach is $1,155/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to South Carolina statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.7 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a South Carolina statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county North Myrtle Beach sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How North Myrtle Beach compares to similar-size South Carolina cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.