Living in Georgetown, SC

Georgetown County (county seat)

Georgetown is South Carolina's third-oldest city, after Charleston and Beaufort -- founded in 1729, an official port of entry by 1732, and by 1840 the surrounding district was the wealthiest area in the original thirteen colonies, driven by rice production ("Carolina Gold"). The original grid city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, retaining original street names, lot numbers, and many original homes. Georgetown's defining CURRENT story, however, is a real, major, still-unfolding economic disruption: International Paper closed its 90-year-old Georgetown pulp/paper mill in late 2024, eliminating nearly 700 jobs, and subsequently announced the closure of its last remaining Georgetown operation -- a container plant -- for 2026, eliminating 126 more jobs and marking the complete end of a 90-year industrial-employer relationship that had anchored the city's economy since 1936. This is independently verified across multiple news sources (SC Daily Gazette, The Post and Courier, Packaging Dive), not a hypothetical risk. Housing prices reflect real, disclosed source disagreement -- Redfin's median sale price ($325,000, down 7.2% YoY) ran notably above Zillow's average home value ($250,282, down 1.7%) -- with the market genuinely not competitive (a 24/100 Redfin score) even as homes are selling somewhat faster than the prior year. Crime data reads considerably higher than the national average per NeighborhoodScout, disclosed honestly rather than minimized. Georgetown County's Waccamaw Neck (Pawleys Island, Litchfield) has absorbed the county's real population growth over the past decade (5.4%), while the city of Georgetown itself has drawn separate, real investor interest (a cited $25 million luxury condo/market/office project) even as it works through the mill closures. Median age (46.3) sits meaningfully above the national median but well below the decisive retirement-market signals found for this batch's other four Grand Strand markets, and no dedicated retiree-community infrastructure was found this session -- this record's RETIREMENT DECISION reflects that real difference (see header). Georgetown County's 7% minimum combined sales tax runs lower than Horry County's 8% documented elsewhere in this batch, and South Carolina's real, current two-bracket income tax and coastal hurricane exposure apply here as statewide context.

Explore Georgetown in depth

• Moving to Georgetown: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Georgetown
• Housing in Georgetown
• Taxes & Insurance in Georgetown
• Climate in Georgetown
• Schools & Families in Georgetown
• Healthcare & Safety in Georgetown
• Pros and Cons of Living in Georgetown
• Best Areas to Live in Georgetown

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Buyers specifically prioritizing genuine historic character and comparative affordability within the broader Grand Strand/Waccamaw Neck region, and those interested in a small city with real, current downtown-redevelopment investor interest -- not a retirement-destination-first choice within this batch.

Maybe not for you if: Job seekers or buyers relying on Georgetown's traditional industrial-employer base should know that base has genuinely and recently ended -- International Paper's complete Georgetown exit (2024-2026) is a real, current disruption, not a historical footnote; those most focused on low crime or top-tier zoned schools should weigh Georgetown High School's C+ Niche grade and the city's above-national-average crime rate against other Grand Strand markets in this batch.