Town by town
Which Grand Strand town
is right for you.
By Devin Day, Operations Officer & licensed MLO, NMLS 2721275 · Reviewed by Timmy Fredrick Nash, Broker-in-Charge · Updated August 29, 2026
What prices to expect town by town, what to expect inside city limits and outside them, what traffic to expect on season and off, and what to expect from the towns we chose ourselves.
The short answer
Four things to compare before you pick a town
People search Myrtle Beach and then buy somewhere else on this list, because the name covers about sixty miles of coast plus the inland towns behind it. Compare these four differences first.
Side by side
The towns, with prices and rules
| Area | Price range | Governed by | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little River | $150,000 to $800,000 | Unincorporated county | Intracoastal Waterway marinas and fishing docks |
| Longs, inland | Typically below the beach towns | Unincorporated county | Acreage, affordable and rural |
| North Myrtle Beach | $300,000 to $2,500,000+ | City | Wide beaches, beach houses and Ocean Drive |
| Myrtle Beach | $150,000 to $1,500,000+ | City | The boardwalk, the most shops and restaurants |
| Carolina Forest | Mostly newer construction | Unincorporated county | The newest construction, master-planned |
| Conway | $120,000 to $500,000 | City | A historic downtown on the Waccamaw River |
| Surfside Beach | $250,000 to $1,500,000 | Town | A fishing pier and a small-town beach grid |
| Garden City | $225,000 to $1,200,000 | Mostly unincorporated county | A peninsula between the ocean and the salt marsh |
| Murrells Inlet | $200,000 to $1,000,000+ | Unincorporated county | The MarshWalk restaurants on the saltwater creek |
| Pawleys Island | $450,000 to $5,000,000+ | Town, plus unincorporated mainland | Historic beach cottages, expensive, creek on one side, ocean on the other |
Price ranges are the working ranges on each area page and move with the market. Longs has no area page yet; prices there vary widely with land. If you plan to rent the home out, the town ordinance and the HOA covenants for the address govern, and we will pull both. The feature column is what each area is physically known for, not a judgement about it. Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island straddle the Horry and Georgetown county line, which changes which county rules apply. The rules on the sand itself, dogs, tents and parking, differ by town as well, on our beach rules page. For the hospital nearest any address, see the healthcare page.
Not sure which of these your budget reaches?
City or county
Incorporated or unincorporated: what changes
Incorporated means the address sits inside a city or town that runs its own services and writes its own rules. Unincorporated means the county does both. It does not show up in a listing, and it changes four bills.
Sales tax
Nine percent inside the City of Myrtle Beach, eight percent in the county. Groceries are untaxed either way.
Trash
Curbside collection is a city service. Outside city limits you arrange it yourself, and the options and costs are on the new resident checklist.
Beach parking
The free resident parking decal is issued by the city to city residents. Living two streets outside the line means paying at the meters.
The HOA is separate from all of it
City limits decide the four bills above. The covenants on your deed decide how you live in the house, and they apply whether you are inside a town or not. Most newer neighborhoods here have an association; older streets and rural land often do not. Before you offer, read what the covenants say about boats, campers, work vehicles, fences, sheds, pools, exterior paint and pets, and read what the dues cover. We pull the documents for any address, and the HOA guides explain dues increases, special assessments and violations and fines before you are living with them.
Golf carts and rentals
Each town writes its own golf cart rules, and the county writes them for unincorporated areas, so a cart that is street-legal in one neighborhood may not be in the next. Renting your house out works the same way: the town or county decides, and your HOA can say no on top of that. Check the rules for the specific address, not the town name.
The drive
Traffic analysis, on season and off
Here is an idea of traffic in our area. It is light, and it does not change much in peak season. Every row below is the same ten mile drive, so the areas compare directly.
| A 10 mile drive from | Off season | On season |
|---|---|---|
| Surfside Beach | about 19 min | about 24 min |
| Carolina Forest | about 20 min | about 25 min |
| Conway | about 18 min | about 23 min |
| Murrells Inlet | about 15 min | about 20 min |
| North Myrtle Beach | about 15 min | about 20 min |
| Pawleys Island | about 13 min | about 18 min |
The differences come from the roads, not the distance. Ten miles on US-17 through the beach towns runs slower because of the traffic lights. Ten miles on SC-31 or SC-22 runs quicker because there are almost none, and that is the route locals take all summer.
On season adds about five minutes to a ten mile drive. That is what our team plans on from driving these roads, not a measurement. Summer weekends on US-17 are the exception and run longer than that.
If you will be working here, measure your own commute before you offer. The freeways, the two US 17s and the airport are on our getting around page, and the jobs page covers what work here pays.
Where we landed
The people who wrote this page chose their own towns this way
Devin, who wrote this page, lives in Murrells Inlet. The office is close, the stores and restaurants he likes are close, the beach is close, and Market Common with its bookstore is a short drive. The one thing he leaves the area for is training at Fitness Edge MMA in Carolina Forest. Abdulla, who builds our tools, made the same call and landed in Murrells Inlet too; his gym is Crunch by the mall, a bit further toward Myrtle Beach, and everything else on his list was already nearby.
Two client moves show how different the right answer gets. A North Carolina family who wanted land and a house built to their own plan bought in Longs, which is inland, rural and affordable enough that the dream house fit the budget, and they commute. A New York couple went the other direction entirely: a beachfront home in North Myrtle Beach with ocean views, close to places to go out, and near the waterway because they own a boat and wanted to finally use it. Same coast, opposite answers, both correct.
Two misconceptions we correct weekly. First, that Myrtle Beach is one big party strip. The entertainment district is there, and it is compact; leave the downtown blocks and you are in quiet residential streets, some of them expensive, and within a short drive of the entertainment district. Second, that the whole area is a retirement community. About 30 percent of the county is 65 or older, which means about 70 percent is not, and there is a university campus in Conway. Every age buys here, and we work with all of them.
How we do this
We give you the records, not our opinion of a neighborhood
Fair housing law is strict about agents steering buyers toward or away from areas, and it is strict for good reason. So we do not describe who lives in an area, and you should be wary of any agent who does.
What we do instead is hand over what is written down. Zoning and short-term rental rules are municipal ordinances. Rental caps and minimum lease terms are in the HOA covenants. Flood zones are on the federal maps. School attendance zones are on the state and district lookup tools, which the schools page shows you how to use. Every one of those is a document you can read yourself, and we will get you all of them for any address before you make an offer.
Tell us what the house has to do and what it has to be near. That is a question about property, and it is one we can answer properly.
Free, no obligation
Move to Myrtle.
We reach out the same day, evenings included. Prefer to talk now? Call 854.333.2135
Go deeper
Each area, in detail
Every area above has its own page with the market data, the tax and insurance position, the flood picture and the rental rules.
Common questions
Grand Strand towns FAQ
What towns make up the Grand Strand?
Running north to south: Little River, North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach itself, Carolina Forest and Socastee inland, Surfside Beach, Garden City, Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, with Conway inland on the Waccamaw River. Some are incorporated cities and towns and some are unincorporated county, which changes the rules that apply.
Which Grand Strand town is the cheapest?
On the price ranges we publish for each area, Conway starts lowest at about $120,000 and Little River at about $150,000. Pawleys Island starts highest at about $450,000. Every area has a wide range, so the starting figure matters less than what your budget reaches in each one.
Does it matter if a house is inside city limits?
Yes, in four practical ways. Sales tax is 9 percent inside the City of Myrtle Beach against 8 percent in the county. Curbside trash collection is a city service, so outside city limits you arrange it yourself. The free resident beach parking decal is for city residents. And zoning, golf cart and short-term rental rules are set by whoever governs that address.
Can I rent out a house on the Grand Strand?
It depends entirely on the address. Myrtle Beach allows short-term rentals only in limited zones. North Myrtle Beach requires an annual permit, a business license and a responsible party. Surfside Beach allows them in certain zones only. Unincorporated county areas are generally more permissive. An HOA can also forbid what the zoning allows.
How far apart are the Grand Strand towns?
Closer than people expect. Off-peak from Myrtle Beach it is about 15 minutes to Surfside Beach, 20 to Carolina Forest, 25 to Conway and to Murrells Inlet, 30 to North Myrtle Beach and 35 to Pawleys Island. Summer traffic on US-17 makes all of those longer, sometimes much longer.
How do you decide which town to show me?
By what you tell us the house has to do: your budget, what it needs to be near, whether you intend to rent it, and whether you want a golf cart to be legal on your roads. We work from published records, zoning, covenants and permits, and we give you the documents to read yourself rather than characterizing who lives in an area.
Who wrote this
Chapter 3 Realty is a real estate brokerage in Myrtle Beach, built as a partnership around a simple idea: you should be as informed as possible on the biggest purchase of your life, every single time. Timmy Fredrick Nash is the Broker-in-Charge, South Carolina broker license 43182, with more than 30 years selling real estate on the Grand Strand. He reviews every page we publish and runs our market analyzes himself. His father, Fred Nash, also sold real estate here, and Fred Nash Boulevard by Myrtle Beach International Airport is named for him. Devin Day wrote this page. He is our Operations Officer, a licensed mortgage loan originator, NMLS 2721275, and a relocator himself, from Ohio. Meet the team on the about page or read why buyers work with us. The direct line is 854.333.2135.
Sources: municipal ordinances for each town, Horry County, FEMA flood map service center, SC Department of Revenue for sales tax, and our own area pages for price ranges. Drive times are off-peak model estimates with no traffic in them. Rules change; the ordinance and the covenants that apply to a specific address govern, not this page.