Myrtle Beach Property Tax: The 4%/6% Assessment Ratio, Horry County's Millage, and the City-Specific Gap Nobody Has Confirmed

The Core Mechanic: Why an Investment Property's Taxable Base Is 50% Larger Than an Identical Owner-Occupied Home

South Carolina property tax is calculated in two steps, and the first step - the assessment ratio - is the one most generic tax-rate roundups skip past. A property's fair market value is first multiplied by an assessment ratio to produce a much smaller "assessed value," and only then is that assessed value multiplied by the local millage rate to produce the actual tax bill. The full formula: Tax = Fair Market Value x Assessment Ratio x Millage.

The assessment ratio depends entirely on how the property is used. An owner-occupied legal residence - the home you actually live in as your primary residence - is assessed at 4% of fair market value. Every other class of real property - second homes, rental property, commercial property, vacant land - is assessed at 6% of fair market value, per Horry County's own published tax FAQ. Run the math on a $300,000 property and the gap is stark: assessed as an owner-occupied legal residence, its taxable base is $12,000 (4% of $300,000); assessed at the 6% non-owner-occupied rate, the identical property's taxable base is $18,000 - fifty percent larger, before any millage is even applied. Given how much of Myrtle Beach's oceanfront condo and second-home inventory falls into the 6% category by default, this ratio - not year-to-year millage changes - is often the single biggest lever on a buyer's eventual tax bill here.

Horry County's Millage: What's Confirmed, and the City-Specific Gap This Research Could Not Close

Once fair market value is converted to an assessed value at either 4% or 6%, that assessed value is multiplied by the combined millage rate of every taxing entity that applies to the parcel. For Horry County's unincorporated area, a tax-year-2023 compilation via Ownwell breaks the county-level total down as: County 56.2 mills, School 128.1 mills, Fire 23.2 mills, and Waste Management 8.7 mills, for 216.2 total mills (a 0.2162 decimal rate).

Here is the honest limit of that figure, stated plainly rather than glossed over: 216.2 mills is the unincorporated-county baseline. It is not a City of Myrtle Beach rate. The City of Myrtle Beach almost certainly layers its own municipal operating millage on top of the county figure for any property actually inside city limits - every incorporated South Carolina municipality does - but this research could not independently confirm the current, city-specific millage rate. Do not treat 216.2 mills as the full combined rate for a Myrtle Beach property; it is missing at least the city's own municipal line, and possibly additional special-purpose district lines depending on the parcel. Confirm the true, current, all-in combined millage rate for a specific address directly with the Horry County Auditor or the City of Myrtle Beach Finance Department before budgeting against any number on this page.

The $50,000 Homestead Exemption, and a Cautionary Parallel Worth Knowing

South Carolina offers a $50,000 homestead exemption under SC Code § 12-37-250, typically available to homeowners who are age 65 or older, totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind, applied on top of the 4% owner-occupied assessment ratio described above. This is a statewide benefit, not something unique to Horry County, and it stacks with - rather than replaces - the 4% rate itself.

This research found the exemption's existence, statute, and dollar amount from a dated secondary source, but could not independently confirm the exact current-year figure or Horry County's own specific filing deadline for claiming it - a gap to close directly with the Horry County Assessor before relying on either detail. Worth noting as a cautionary parallel: this site's Hilton Head, SC research (also South Carolina, also Beaufort County-adjacent coastal market) documented a separate, real trap - a January 15 filing-deadline pattern in at least one South Carolina county's public notices for claiming the underlying 4% owner-occupied rate itself, distinct from the $50,000 senior/disabled/blind exemption described here. The 4% rate is not automatic at closing; it requires an application and assessor certification, and missing the deadline defaults a genuinely owner-occupied home to the 6% rate for that tax year. Whether Horry County follows the same January 15 pattern was not confirmed this research pass - ask the Horry County Assessor directly, and don't assume the 4% rate is already baked into a first tax bill just because you intend to live in the home full time.

Sales Tax Context: An Extra 1% Inside Myrtle Beach City Limits

Separate from property tax, Horry County's baseline combined sales tax is 8% (6% state plus a 2% county special-district surtax). Both the City of Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach add their own additional 1% municipal levy on top of that baseline, bringing the combined sales tax rate to 9% for purchases made inside either city's limits - a real, city-specific distinction from the county-wide baseline that generic sales-tax lookups often miss.

A Professional-Consult Disclaimer

Property tax figures - assessment ratios, millage rates, exemption amounts, and filing deadlines - change from year to year and can vary parcel by parcel, and this page has been direct about which figures are confirmed versus which remain open gaps. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice. Before making a purchase, budgeting a tax bill, or filing for the 4% owner-occupied rate or the homestead exemption, confirm current figures directly with the Horry County Assessor, the Horry County Auditor, the City of Myrtle Beach Finance Department, or a qualified South Carolina tax professional.