Practical Living in Myrtle Beach, SC: Schools, Healthcare, and Getting Around

Schools: Horry County Schools, a District Growing Slower Than It Expected

Horry County Schools — the district serving Myrtle Beach and the rest of the county — enrolled 47,177 students as of a September 2025 report (13,609 high school, 11,261 middle school, 22,307 elementary). That's roughly 1,000 students short of the district's own 48,291 projection for the 2025-26 school year, a real gap given how fast the county's overall population is supposed to be growing. A district survey of 298 families who withdrew students found 14% wanted "more options" than the district offers; of documented withdrawals, 1,725 students left Horry County entirely, and 1,356 stayed local but shifted to charter, private, virtual, or homeschool alternatives, with Discovery School (279 students), Atlantic Collegiate Academy (175), and Coastal Christian High School (97) named as specific draws.

Set against that, a genuine bright spot: per the district's own Fall 2025 State Report Cards announcement, Horry County Schools posted its highest graduation rate on record, with most schools rated excellent or good, including what the district describes as the state's #1-ranked school. That's very likely Scholars Academy, a program held on the Coastal Carolina University campus that lets 9th-12th graders earn a high school diploma alongside AP and dual-enrollment college credit — it scored 99.34 out of 100 on its first-ever state report card for the 2023-24 cycle and was independently reported as South Carolina's #1-ranked high school as of October 2024.

Honest gap: this research confirmed Scholars Academy's #1 ranking for the 2023-24 cycle directly, but could not independently confirm whether it repeated that #1 ranking in the newer Fall 2025 report-card cycle specifically — the district's own newsroom page covering that cycle wasn't accessible during this research. Treat the 2023-24 ranking as settled and the Fall 2025 repeat as unconfirmed, and confirm current school-specific ratings and attendance-zone boundaries directly with Horry County Schools before treating any one school's reputation as settled.

Healthcare: Grand Strand Medical Center, and an Honest Gap on the Second System

Grand Strand Medical Center is the area's major hospital: 403 beds, owned and operated by HCA Healthcare, established in 1978. It carries both a Level I Adult Trauma Center and a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center designation (American College of Surgeons-verified) and is a DNV-GL-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center — meaning it's built to handle the region's serious trauma and stroke cases, not just routine care. It has expanded more than once recently: a $15 million addition in 2014 covering pediatrics, surgery, and ICU space, and a $14.5 million expansion in 2021 that added 32 patient beds. A Galen College of Nursing campus opened on-site in 2022, tying the hospital into its own regional nursing pipeline.

Honest gap: Tidelands Health is referenced across sources as a second health system serving the southern part of the Myrtle Beach area, toward Georgetown County, but this research could not independently confirm its specific facilities, bed counts, or exact service area. If a specific address sits south of Myrtle Beach proper, confirm directly with Tidelands Health and Grand Strand Medical Center which system's facilities are actually closest before assuming either one automatically applies.

US 17, the Bypass, and Carolina Bays Parkway: The Real Traffic Story

US Highway 17 is the area's main coastal spine, split locally into Kings Highway/Ocean Boulevard running through the city core and a Bypass route carrying through-traffic around it. It's the subject of an active widening project described by WMBF News as "nearing completion" as of a June 2026 report — but that report followed drivers describing chronic, current congestion in blunt terms: "it bottlenecks every day," per WPDE reporting. This research could not confirm the widening project's specific cost or a hard completion date; treat it as real, current, and underway rather than finished, and confirm the current status directly with the South Carolina Department of Transportation before assuming the bottleneck problem is already solved.

The area's main inland relief route, Carolina Bays Parkway (SC Highway 31), runs roughly parallel to US 17 and is itself the subject of a live, contested extension fight rather than a settled project. State transportation officials presented extension plans in October 2025 that drew, per an October 2025 WECT report, "strong opposition" from residents on the North Carolina side of the state line. This research could only confirm that dispute at the headline level — the specific route options, projected cost, and residents' objections weren't independently verified here, so confirm the current status directly with SCDOT or the relevant North Carolina agencies before treating the parkway's extension as either a done deal or a dead one.

For anyone whose daily commute or errand-running depends on getting across town at peak season, the practical takeaway is blunt: there is currently no fully finished, uncontested relief valve for Highway 17 traffic. The Bypass helps, the widening is close but not done as of mid-2026, and the parkway extension that would add real long-term relief is still being fought over across a state line.

Getting In and Out: Myrtle Beach International Airport

Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) recorded 3,837,052 total passengers in 2024 — a record year, up nearly 14% year-over-year, per Horry County's own Director of Airports, Judi Olmstead, and Horry County Administrator Barry Spivey. That's a genuinely large and growing number of passengers moving through a single regional airport, worth knowing whether you're planning your own travel or thinking about how easily visiting family can get to you. This research did not confirm MYR's current list of nonstop destinations, seasonal route changes, or a current-year passenger update beyond the 2024 record — confirm current routes and any construction or parking changes directly with Myrtle Beach International Airport before booking around it.

Cost of Living Context: A Service-Economy Wage Floor

Myrtle Beach's median household income was estimated at $60,394 in a 2024 estimate — below both the South Carolina state median and the national median. That's consistent with a resident workforce heavily concentrated in the lower-wage, seasonal tourism, hospitality, and retail sectors that also drive the area's massive visitor economy. It's also relevant to Horry County's in-city 9% combined sales tax (6% state, 2% county special-district surtax, plus the City of Myrtle Beach's own 1% municipal levy) — a real, city-specific rate above the county-wide 8% baseline, worth factoring into a household budget alongside income expectations.

Everyday Basics: Utilities, Trash, and Groceries

Electric service across Horry County, including Myrtle Beach, is split between two named providers rather than a single default utility — Santee Cooper (the state-owned utility) and Horry Electric Cooperative — confirmed by multiple 2026-dated local news reports (WBTW and WMBF both covered the two utilities jointly promoting off-peak energy use and, separately, reported on outages affecting customers of both). Which one actually serves a given address depends on location within the county; this research did not confirm the exact geographic boundary between the two, so check directly with each provider for a specific address.

Solid waste and recycling collection inside Myrtle Beach city limits is city-run, not handled through a private hauler franchise: the City's Public Works Solid Waste & Recycling Division collects curbside in four weekly zones (Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.), using a 95-gallon garbage cart and a 65-gallon co-mingled recycling cart per household, plus bulk and yard-waste pickup, for a published residential rate of $32.85 per month, per the City of Myrtle Beach's own Solid Waste & Recycling Division page. Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority is widely referenced across utility directories and realtor guides as the water/sewer provider for the Myrtle Beach area, but this research could not independently confirm its exact service-area boundary against city limits this pass — confirm directly with GSWSA for a specific address.

This research did not include a dedicated pull of Myrtle Beach-specific grocery chains or broadband/internet providers, and none are invented here — no chain names or store locations were independently verified during this research pass. Confirm current grocery options and internet/broadband availability directly for a specific address rather than assuming any particular chain or provider serves it.

Who to Call: A Practical Reference List

For emergencies: call 911, and factor in the current US 17/Bypass congestion described above rather than assuming a quick trip to Grand Strand Medical Center. For schools: Horry County Schools directly, for current attendance-zone boundaries and school-specific ratings. For healthcare access south of Myrtle Beach proper: confirm directly with both Grand Strand Medical Center and Tidelands Health which facilities are actually closest. For road and highway planning: the South Carolina Department of Transportation, for the current status of the US 17 widening and the Carolina Bays Parkway extension. For air travel: Myrtle Beach International Airport directly, for current routes and any construction or parking changes. For utilities, trash service, and grocery specifics tied to a specific address: the City of Myrtle Beach and Horry County directly, rather than assuming any general provider list above applies.

None of this is legal, medical, educational, or relocation advice. School ratings and zoning, hospital services and coverage areas, highway and parkway project timelines, airport routes, and utility or waste-service arrangements all change over time, and this page reflects what each source had published as of this research session, not a live feed. Confirm every detail above directly with the relevant school district, hospital or health system, the South Carolina Department of Transportation, Myrtle Beach International Airport, and the City of Myrtle Beach or Horry County before making a relocation decision.