Moving to Georgetown: Pros, Cons & What to Know
Moving to Georgetown means moving to South Carolina's third-oldest city -- a real, National Register-documented historic port town currently navigating a major, real economic transition as International Paper ends its 90-year presence.
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Learn moreA genuinely deep, documented history
Georgetown was founded in 1729 and became an official port of entry by 1732 -- South Carolina's third-oldest city, after only Charleston and Beaufort. By 1840 the surrounding district was the wealthiest area in the original thirteen colonies, driven by rice production ("Carolina Gold"). The original grid city, still bearing its original street names and lot numbers, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A real, current, major economic disruption to know about before relocating
International Paper closed its 90-year-old Georgetown pulp/paper mill in late 2024 (nearly 700 jobs) and announced the closure of its last remaining Georgetown operation -- a container plant -- for 2026 (126 more jobs), marking the complete end of a 90-year industrial-employer relationship. This is real, current, and independently verified across multiple news sources -- not a historical footnote, and directly relevant to anyone evaluating Georgetown's job market today.
Genuinely more affordable than several other Grand Strand markets
Zillow's average home value in Georgetown was $250,282 -- below several other markets in this dataset's Grand Strand batch -- with a Georgetown County sales tax floor (7%) also running lower than Horry County's 8% documented elsewhere in this batch.
Real growth is concentrated on the Waccamaw Neck, not in the city itself
Georgetown County grew 5.4% over the past decade, but that growth concentrated overwhelmingly in the Waccamaw Neck beach communities (Pawleys Island, Litchfield) documented elsewhere in this batch -- not in the city of Georgetown, which has instead drawn separate, real downtown-redevelopment investor interest (a cited $25 million luxury condo/market/office project) even amid the mill closures.
Key takeaways
- Georgetown is SC's third-oldest city (founded 1729) with real, National Register-documented history.
- A real, current, major economic disruption is underway: International Paper's complete 90-year Georgetown exit (2024-2026, ~800 combined jobs) -- know this before evaluating the local job market.
- Housing runs genuinely more affordable than several other markets in this batch, with a lower Georgetown County sales-tax floor (7% vs. Horry County's 8%).
- The county's real population growth concentrates on the Waccamaw Neck beach communities, not the city of Georgetown itself -- though downtown Georgetown has drawn separate real redevelopment investment.
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