Renting in South Carolina
Renting in South Carolina tracks the same real regional variation as buying: Charleston's tourism- and job-driven demand and Myrtle Beach's #1-in-the-nation inbound-migration draw set real upward pressure in those markets, while Columbia's state-capital-plus-college-town rental stock and parts of the Upstate and Midlands run genuinely more affordable.
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Learn moreCharleston's tourism, port, and manufacturing economy sets real demand pressure on Lowcountry rents
Charleston's combination of a historic tourism economy, the Port of Charleston, and Boeing's 787 Dreamliner assembly line (5,000+ employees, the company's second-largest US manufacturing site) drives real, sustained rental demand in a supply-constrained peninsula-and-suburbs market -- reflected in the county's disclosed median-sale-price/median-income affordability gap that pushes many households toward renting rather than buying.
Myrtle Beach's #1 migration-search ranking is a real rental-demand signal, not just a home-buying one
moveBuddha's 2025-2026 migration report found Myrtle Beach had the single highest inbound-to-outbound moving-search ratio of any US city in 2025 (3.28 in-moves per exit) -- a real signal of sustained rental as well as purchase demand in the Grand Strand market, even as the area's median home-sale price runs roughly 32% below the national median for buyers who do choose to purchase.
Columbia and much of the Upstate and Midlands offer genuinely more affordable renting
Columbia's state-capital, Fort Jackson, and University of South Carolina presence supports a real, diverse rental market at housing costs running roughly 30% below the national median sale price -- and Columbia's roughly 0.70%-0.76% Richland County effective property tax rate and the state's roughly 0.51% statewide average keep landlord carrying costs, and by extension rents, comparatively contained versus higher-property-tax states in this dataset.
Renters in coastal and Pee Dee-adjacent units should confirm the same hazard exposure buyers do
Renters in Charleston, Myrtle Beach/Horry County, or Beaufort/Hilton Head should ask about a building's specific hurricane readiness and flood history, and renters in Pee Dee-adjacent or river-adjacent inland units should ask about freshwater flood exposure -- the same real, region-specific risks disclosed for buyers apply to renters, even though renters carry no property-tax exposure of their own.
Key takeaways
- Charleston's tourism, port, and Boeing-anchored manufacturing economy drives real, sustained rental demand in a supply-constrained market.
- Myrtle Beach's #1-in-the-nation 2025 inbound-migration-search ranking (moveBuddha) signals real rental as well as purchase demand in the Grand Strand.
- Columbia and much of the Upstate and Midlands offer genuinely more affordable renting, supported by South Carolina's comparatively low property-tax burden on landlords.
- Renters in coastal or Pee Dee-adjacent units should confirm the same region-specific hurricane and flood exposure disclosed for buyers.
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