Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand: a service economy in numbers

Myrtle Beach business statistics describe one of South Carolina's fastest-growing markets, built around hospitality, real estate and services for a population that keeps arriving. The U.S. Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (CBP) counted 12,588 establishments with paid employees in Horry and Georgetown counties in 2023. They employed 145,905 people in March and paid $6.3 billion in annual payroll.

The Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimates put the two counties at 479,426 residents, up 15.7 percent from 414,444 at the April 2020 base, more than twice the state's 7.0 percent growth. The Grand Strand has 8.8 percent of South Carolina's residents and 10.2 percent of its employer businesses, and it took 18.0 percent of all the residents the state added in those four years.

This profile follows the same method as our Midlands, Upstate and Lowcountry profiles, with extra detail on hospitality and real estate. The method is at the end.

Horry County grew 17.8 percent from April 2020 to July 2024, from 351,038 to 413,391 residents. Only Jasper County grew faster in percentage terms. Horry added 62,353 people, more than any other county in South Carolina over the period. Georgetown County grew 4.1 percent, to 66,035.

All of this growth comes from people moving in. The two counties had 9,836 more deaths than births between 2020 and 2024, reflecting a large retiree population, while net domestic migration added 69,528 people and international migration 4,756. Conway was the fastest-growing larger city at 18.5 percent, followed by Myrtle Beach at 13.6 percent and North Myrtle Beach at 10.5 percent.

The two counties have 1,600 accommodation and food service establishments, 12.7 percent of all employer businesses, compared with 9.9 percent statewide. Their weight in employment is much larger: 34,769 jobs, or 23.8 percent of Grand Strand employment, against 11.9 percent for South Carolina. That works out to 72.5 hospitality jobs per 1,000 residents, versus 44.9 statewide.

Restaurants and bars (NAICS 722) account for 1,381 of those locations and 19.2 percent of all jobs. Lodging (NAICS 721) adds 219 locations and 4.6 percent of jobs, more than three times the state share of 1.4 percent. Amusement and recreation (NAICS 713), which includes golf courses, mini golf, water parks and fitness centers, has 0.48 locations per 1,000 residents, almost twice the state rate of 0.25.

Hospitality pays more here than elsewhere in the state, at $25,872 in annual payroll per employee against $22,859, though that figure includes part-time and seasonal workers. Employment also swings sharply through the year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages shows private accommodation and food services employment in Horry County ran from 26,832 in January 2025 to 34,948 in June 2025, a 30 percent rise from trough to peak.

Real estate is the region's third-largest service sector. Real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53) accounts for 1,169 establishments, 9.3 percent of all employer businesses, against 6.3 percent statewide. In Horry County alone it is the second-largest service sector, with 1,033 locations, behind only accommodation and food services.

Within that, real estate offices, brokerages, property managers and appraisers (NAICS 531) number 1,062, or 2.22 per 1,000 residents, 77 percent above the state rate. The work is spread across many small firms: payroll per employee is $47,824, about 84 percent of the statewide figure, and the sector's 5,911 employees are a small share of total jobs. Vacation rental managers, long-term property managers and agents all compete for the same owners, and a large share of those owners live out of state, so a property management company's website, response speed and owner reporting carry a lot of weight.

Health care is the second-largest service sector by establishments (1,228) and pays $60,984 per employee, above the state's $57,637. In Georgetown County, health care is the largest service sector, with 297 locations and 14.6 percent of all businesses, which fits an older population. Professional services are less common than statewide (8.5 percent of establishments versus 10.3 percent) and pay considerably less ($63,217 versus $84,302).

Across all industries, payroll per employee is $42,878, about 81 percent of the state's $52,961. That gap is mostly a matter of mix: when one in four jobs is in hospitality, the average falls. For businesses hiring office or clinical staff, it means wages are not as far below the state as the headline suggests.

The Grand Strand has 16.9 service establishments per 1,000 residents, above the state's 14.2. Georgetown County is denser at 20.2, in part because its smaller resident base also supports visitors and part-year residents in Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet and Litchfield. Horry County sits at 16.4, and with its population growing about 4 percent a year on average, that ratio falls unless new businesses keep pace.

Most of these businesses are small. In 2023, 73.3 percent of Grand Strand establishments had fewer than 10 employees, 22.2 percent had 10 to 49 and 4.5 percent had 50 or more, against 72.2, 22.6 and 5.2 percent statewide. Georgetown County's small-business share is 75.3 percent. A small team serving a fast-growing, seasonal market feels every missed call and slow reply, because the next provider on the map is one tap away.

Growth plus seasonality shapes almost every decision here. Monvell's consulting and data and reporting work helps businesses plan staffing, marketing and capacity around seasonal patterns like these, using their own booking and lead data alongside the public figures.

• Most new customers are new to the area. With domestic migration driving all of Horry County's growth, a steady share of the market is choosing providers for the first time, mostly through search, maps and reviews.
• Demand peaks and dips on a calendar. Hospitality staffing rises by about 30 percent from January to June, and businesses that serve visitors or the hospitality trade see similar swings in inquiries.
• Real estate and property management are crowded. At 77 percent above the state's density, firms win on owner communication, response time and clear reporting more than on presence alone.

Establishment, employment and payroll figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's County Business Patterns 2023 county file (cbp23co.txt), which covers establishments with paid employees and excludes the self-employed. We summed rows for Horry (45051) and Georgetown (45043) counties at the 2-digit NAICS level and for subsectors 721, 722, 531 and 713. Payroll per employee is annual payroll times 1,000 divided by employment in the pay period including March 12. Per-resident rates use the Vintage 2024 July 2024 county population.

Population and components of change come from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 county estimates; city figures come from the Vintage 2024 subcounty file. The monthly hospitality employment figures come from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, NAICS 72, Horry County, 2025. CBP figures include noise added for confidentiality and count locations, not companies, so small values are approximate. Payroll per employee is not a wage rate; it mixes full-time, part-time and seasonal workers.