Photo: w:User:Isipeoria · CC BY-SA 3.0There are 2.7 jobs in Myrtle Beach for every working resident, and 32,469 people commute in
There are 37,876 jobs in Myrtle Beach; 14,264 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Myrtle Beach is better than 31% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (A−). About one in three stay in Myrtle Beach for work; outside it, Conway is the main destination (7%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Myrtle Beach, in a few figures
Myrtle Beach is where the jobs are
Myrtle Beach has 37,876 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 65,000 people are in town, 58% more than the 41,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Myrtle Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Myrtle Beach workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Myrtle Beach’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Myrtle Beach draws workers from far and wide
The 37,876 jobs in Myrtle Beach are filled from a wide area. Myrtle Beach’s own residents hold 14% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Myrtle Beach’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Myrtle Beach’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Myrtle Beach could be anywhere from C− to C+.
In and out of Myrtle Beach on a workday
On a workday 8,857 residents head out to work and 5,407 work right here.
About 65,000 people are in Myrtle Beach on a workday afternoon, 58% more than live here.
2.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting from Myrtle Beach: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Myrtle Beach workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,400 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 86% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The kinds of work in Myrtle Beach
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Myrtle Beach, 2013 → 2023: 33,941 → 37,876. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Myrtle Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Myrtle Beach live
Where Myrtle Beach clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How far Myrtle Beach goes to work
About 22% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Myrtle Beach is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 17,974 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.9% of Myrtle Beach households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Myrtle Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Myrtle Beach is 879th of 1,019 U.S. towns of 29,000 to 55,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Fort Mill SC | 38,673 | $122K | 4.8% | 2.3% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 211 | Bluffton SC | 36,807 | $111K | 4.3% | 2.2% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 317 | Goose Creek SC | 52,010 | $88K | 6.5% | 2.7% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 877 | West Odessa TX | 32,594 | $65K | 16.6% | 6.0% | 9% | C |
| 878 | Lake Worth Beach FL | 43,970 | $61K | 21.2% | 6.9% | 6% | C |
| 879 | Myrtle Beach SC | 40,937 | $60K | 19.0% | 5.4% | 38% | C |
| 880 | Hutchinson KS | 39,595 | $59K | 14.9% | 4.6% | 53% | C |
| 881 | Sierra Vista AZ | 44,907 | $70K | 12.0% | 4.8% | 42% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,019 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Myrtle Beach, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
How Myrtle Beach compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to North Myrtle Beach (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Myrtle Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Beach | – | C | A− | 18 min | $60,394 |
| Socastee | 2% | B− | B− | 21 min | $62,257 |
| North Myrtle Beach | 5% | B | A− | 22 min | $72,722 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Myrtle Beach’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Myrtle Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Myrtle Beach?
$60,394 (±$3,850) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Myrtle Beach?
19.0%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Myrtle Beach?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Myrtle Beach work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Conway (7%, 13 mi), North Myrtle Beach (5%, 13 mi), Carolina Forest (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Myrtle Beach walkable?
Myrtle Beach is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Myrtle Beach without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Myrtle Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Myrtle Beach
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.