Living in Surfside Beach, SC

Horry County

Surfside Beach earned its "Family Beach" identity honestly: quiet residential neighborhoods, a walkable small-town core, and a real, dated civic distinction -- in 2016 the town council signed a proclamation making Surfside Beach the first autism-friendly travel destination in the country. Incorporated March 14, 1964, the town has weathered a real, documented hurricane history: Hurricane Hazel (1954) destroyed 18 of the original 65 houses on the beach, Hurricane Hugo (1989) caused major damage to hundreds of buildings, and Hurricane Matthew (2016) damaged the Surfside Pier badly enough that its rebuild was not completed until 2024. Demographically, this is a genuine, decisive retirement market -- a median age of 55.4 years, and independently cited by multiple aggregator sources as the #4 "Best Place to Retire in South Carolina." Housing data disagreed sharply this session (Zillow's average home value ran $347,773-$360,900; Redfin's median sale price ranged from $530,000 to a starkly higher $770,000 depending on the month queried, most plausibly explained by the town's small housing stock making a monthly median highly sensitive to a handful of high-end oceanfront closings) -- disclosed rather than resolved to one falsely precise number. Crime data is a genuine mixed picture: the overall rate reads higher than 61% of South Carolina cities per NeighborhoodScout, but that gap is driven almost entirely by property crime (19 per 1,000, plausibly tourism/seasonal-rental-related theft), while the violent crime rate (1.68 per 1,000) sits well below the national average (13.32). Surfside Beach sits within Horry County's tax and school jurisdiction, sharing Horry County Schools (A- overall Niche grade) and the county's 8% minimum combined sales tax rate with neighboring Myrtle Beach. South Carolina's real, current two-bracket income tax (Act 110, 2026: 1.99% under $30,000 taxable income, 5.21% above) and coastal hurricane/flood exposure apply here as statewide context, not unique to this town.

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Housing

Median sale price$530,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rateNot yet verified

Not independently sourced at the Horry County level this session. South Carolina's top state income tax rate is 5.21%. See the South Carolina hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Surfside Beach-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A genuinely distinct, quieter identity within the Grand Strand -- a real "Family Beach" small-town character backed by a dated, concrete civic fact (first autism-friendly travel destination, 2016); a decisive, sourced retirement draw (median age 55.4, #4 Best Place to Retire in SC); low violent crime relative to the national average; shared access to Horry County Schools (A- overall) and the broader Myrtle Beach-area job and healthcare market without Myrtle Beach's density or tourism-district intensity.

Cons

Housing price data is genuinely unreliable to pin down this session -- a small housing stock means monthly medians swing sharply (Redfin's own figures ranged from $530,000 to $770,000 depending on the month), so any single number should be treated as directional only; overall crime reads higher than 61% of SC cities, almost entirely property-crime-driven; real, documented hurricane exposure (Hazel 1954, Hugo 1989, Matthew 2016) and the broader SC coastal flood-insurance cost pressure documented at the county level; South Carolina levies a real, current two-bracket income tax (not a no-income-tax state).

Who this fits

Best for: Retirees specifically drawn to a quieter, more residential Grand Strand alternative to Myrtle Beach's density -- Surfside Beach's median age and independently sourced #4 SC retirement ranking are genuine, decisive signals -- and families wanting a small, walkable beach town with a real, distinctive civic identity.

Maybe not for you if: Buyers needing a confirmed, stable current home price should treat this session's housing figures as directional only, given the sharp disagreement between sources this pass could not reconcile -- confirm current pricing directly with a local agent; those most focused on low property crime should also weigh the town's below-national-average violent crime rate against its higher-than-61%-of-SC-cities overall rate before assuming uniform safety.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-24. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.