Myrtle Beach & Grand Strand Region, South Carolina: Regional Profile

The Grand Strand is one of the longest developed coastal stretches on the East Coast — a 60-mile arc of barrier island, inlet, and beachfront that runs from the North Carolina border near Little River south to Georgetown County. Myrtle Beach sits at its center, functioning simultaneously as the region's economic engine, its political weight, and the name most visitors reach for when they mean any of the 14 municipalities strung along the strand. This profile examines how the region is defined, how its layered governance operates, what situations residents and visitors most commonly encounter within that system, and where the boundaries of local authority actually fall.

Definition and scope

The Grand Strand is not an official political unit. No county, no statute, no ordinance created it. The name is a geographic and marketing descriptor that refers to the coastal corridor primarily within Horry County, with portions extending into Georgetown County to the south. Horry County itself covers approximately 1,134 square miles, making it the largest county in South Carolina by area — a fact that surprises people who assume a beach resort region must be compact.

Myrtle Beach, the city, occupies a much smaller footprint within that larger county. It is one of several municipalities along the strand, including North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, Garden City Beach, and Pawleys Island, each with its own incorporated government, zoning authority, and municipal services. The communities differ considerably in character: North Myrtle Beach leans residential and quieter; the city of Myrtle Beach runs approximately 10 miles of oceanfront with dense commercial development; Pawleys Island, at the southern end, maintains a studied casualness it has cultivated for well over a century.

The region's economy is driven almost entirely by tourism. According to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, the Grand Strand generates more than $7 billion in annual visitor spending, and Horry County consistently ranks as the state's top tourism destination by overnight visits.

Scope of this profile: This page covers the Grand Strand region as it operates within South Carolina state jurisdiction, primarily Horry and Georgetown counties. Federal laws governing coastal management, immigration, and maritime jurisdiction apply independently and are not covered here. Neighboring Brunswick County, North Carolina is geographically adjacent but falls under a separate state's authority.

How it works

Governance along the Grand Strand operates on at least 3 distinct layers simultaneously, which is worth understanding before any interaction with a local agency.

  1. State authority — South Carolina state agencies hold jurisdiction over roads, environmental permitting, driver licensing, and professional licensing regardless of which municipality a person is in. The South Carolina Department of Transportation manages US-17 (the Ocean Highway) and US-501, the two main arterials into the region. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control oversees water quality, beach advisories, and septic permitting for the coastal zone.

  2. County authority — Horry County Council governs unincorporated areas, which represent a large portion of the county's land mass. The county operates its own planning, building inspection, and emergency management systems distinct from any municipality.

  3. Municipal authority — Each incorporated city or town maintains its own police department, business licensing, zoning rules, and development review. A short-term rental permitted in one municipality may be prohibited or separately regulated just across the municipal boundary.

For state-level matters — taxes, professional licenses, motor vehicle registration, public benefits — the South Carolina Government Authority provides comprehensive reference material on how South Carolina's executive agencies and their Grand Strand-area offices function within the broader state structure. It covers agency mandates, office locations, and service pathways across the entire state apparatus.

Common scenarios

The situations that most frequently create confusion in the Grand Strand region cluster around a predictable set of jurisdictional overlaps.

Short-term rental regulation is the most active friction point. The city of Myrtle Beach, Horry County, and the town of Surfside Beach each maintain different rules about licensing, occupancy limits, parking requirements, and noise. A property that sits just outside city limits falls under county rules rather than city ordinance — a distinction with real consequences for what a property owner can legally do.

Business licensing follows a similar pattern. A restaurant on US-17 Business in the unincorporated area between two cities needs a county business license, a state retail license from the South Carolina Department of Revenue, and potentially a state alcohol permit from the South Carolina Department of Revenue's alcohol licensing division — three separate approvals from two levels of government.

Coastal construction and stormwater permits involve the state's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management under DHEC, adding a fourth regulatory voice to the chorus before any shovel touches sand.

Traffic enforcement follows municipal police jurisdiction: Myrtle Beach Police operates within city limits, Horry County Sheriff's Office handles unincorporated areas, and South Carolina Highway Patrol has concurrent jurisdiction on state roads throughout.

Decision boundaries

Determining which government applies in a Grand Strand scenario comes down to 3 threshold questions.

Is the location incorporated? Check the municipal limits map maintained by the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. If a parcel lies within incorporated Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, or another municipality, city rules and city services apply. If it falls in unincorporated Horry County, county authority governs.

Is the subject matter state-preempted? South Carolina preempts local governments on firearms regulation, certain employment standards, and telecommunications infrastructure. Local ordinances on those topics yield to state law regardless of which municipality adopted them.

Does the activity touch the coastal zone? South Carolina's Beachfront Management Act (S.C. Code Ann. § 48-39-250 et seq.) establishes setback lines and construction restrictions that apply to coastal properties statewide, overlaying and sometimes superseding local zoning.

The South Carolina state overview provides the foundational reference for how these state-level rules interact with local and regional governance across all 46 counties. Understanding that framework is the prerequisite for making sense of why a 60-mile beach corridor operates through a patchwork of overlapping authorities rather than a single regional government — which is, when examined closely, less a flaw in the system than an accurate reflection of how South Carolina has always organized itself.

References