Four Horry and Georgetown County communities landed on GOBankingRates’ new list of “America’s 50 Most Livable Retirement Towns,” and two of them finished back-to-back near the top quartile. Murrells Inlet, S.C., took the #20 spot and Garden City, S.C., followed at #21 — the highest-ranked South Carolina entries on the national list, published March 29, 2026, by GOBankingRates writer Heather Taylor.
The full Grand Strand showing: Murrells Inlet at #20 with a livability score of 74, Garden City at #21 with a 74, North Myrtle Beach, S.C., at #43 with a 69, and Little River, S.C., at #49 with a 66. Florida dominated the ranking with 26 of the 50 entries, and Arizona took eight more. South Carolina was the only other state with multiple coastal entries — and all four sit on the same 60-mile stretch of the Grand Strand.
These numbers highlight the appeal of the Grand Strand retirement towns ranking, showcasing the best places for retirees in the region.
Grand Strand Retirement Towns Ranking: A Closer Look
How the List Was Built
This is a data-driven national personal-finance ranking, not academic research, and it pulls from two transparent sources.
GOBankingRates screened every U.S. community with a total population of at least 10,000 and a 65-and-over share of at least 33 percent, using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 5-Year American Community Survey. That filter limits the universe to places where retirees already make up a meaningful share of the population.
The publisher then layered in the AreaVibes livability index — a 0-to-100 score AreaVibes compiles from amenities, commute, cost of living, crime, employment, health and safety, housing, schools, and user ratings. The towns were sorted highest-to-lowest by that single index. Data collection closed July 29, 2025.
The methodology is reproducible: anyone can pull the same Census tables and the same AreaVibes scores. The limits are also plain — this is one third-party index, picked up by a national personal-finance publisher, not peer-reviewed and not the only way to evaluate a retirement town.
Murrells Inlet (#20, Score 74)
Murrells Inlet straddles the Horry-Georgetown county line, with most of its developed footprint sitting in Georgetown County. The 2020 census put the population near 9,300, and the 2026 World Population Review projection has it at roughly 10,673 — enough to clear the GOBankingRates 10,000-resident threshold.
The defining feature is the MarshWalk, a half-mile boardwalk along the salt marsh that ties together a row of seafood restaurants, marina docks, and live-music decks. Locals call Murrells Inlet the seafood capital of South Carolina, and the charter-fishing fleet at Marlin Quay Marina works the inlet year-round.
Healthcare access carries weight in any retirement ranking, and Murrells Inlet has it close at hand. Tidelands Health operates Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital in the immediate area, with primary care, cardiology, and specialty services on the same campus. A short drive south puts retirees at Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State Park.
What pushes Murrells Inlet to #20: amenities within a short radius, healthcare on the spot, and a walkable concentration of restaurants and marina activity that doesn’t require driving the full length of the Grand Strand.
Garden City (#21, Score 74)
Garden City sits directly north of Murrells Inlet, also straddling Horry and Georgetown counties, and forms what most longtime locals call the south end of the Grand Strand. The population was 11,193 at the 2020 census and the 2026 projection is essentially flat at roughly 11,192 — a settled community, not a boomtown.
The signature landmark is the Garden City Pier, a 668-foot fishing pier that doubles as a live-music venue on summer evenings. The beach itself is wider and quieter than the Myrtle Beach city strip, and the housing mix runs to oceanfront cottages, low-rise condos, and small ranches a block or two off the sand.
Garden City and Murrells Inlet share the same zip codes — 29575 and 29576 — and effectively the same restaurant and grocery footprint. A back-to-back #20/#21 finish for two adjacent communities is geographically logical, not a coincidence.
What pushes Garden City to #21: housing variety at a wider price band than the inlet, a lower cost of living than the cities to the north and south, and a walkable beach-and-pier core that scores well on amenities and user ratings.
North Myrtle Beach (#43, Score 69)
North Myrtle Beach is the only one of the four entries that is a full incorporated city, with all of it inside Horry County. The 2020 census recorded 18,790 permanent residents and current estimates put the year-round count near 22,000 — though peak-season daytime population can run above 100,000.
The city is a 1968 merger of four older beach towns: Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, and Windy Hill. Each section kept its identity. Ocean Drive — known locally as O.D. — is the heart of Carolina Shag culture, the state dance of South Carolina. The Society of Stranders runs its twice-yearly festivals here, with the SOS Spring Safari drawing thousands each April to clubs like Fat Harold’s Beach Club. Cherry Grove Pier anchors the north end.
One clarification for readers who scan the photo gallery on national lists: the SkyWheel observation wheel is in the city of Myrtle Beach on the downtown Boardwalk, not in North Myrtle Beach. Different city, different jurisdiction.
What pushes North Myrtle Beach to #43: lower density than Myrtle Beach proper, year-round recreation, and healthcare access through McLeod Loris Seacoast and several Tidelands and Conway Medical Center outpatient locations within a short drive.
Little River (#49, Score 66)
Little River is the northernmost South Carolina community on the Grand Strand, sitting on the Intracoastal Waterway a few minutes south of the North Carolina line. The 2020 census recorded 9,692 residents. The 2026 projection puts the population at roughly 10,802 — growth of 11.45 percent since 2020, the standout pace among the four towns on the list.
The town was a commercial fishing village long before it was a retirement destination. Little River Inlet is one of only two natural inlets on the Grand Strand. The working waterfront still anchors the local identity: the Hot Fish Club, Crab Catcher’s, and Filet’s line the waterfront, the offshore gambling boats sail from the same docks, and the annual Blue Crab Festival each May draws regional crowds.
What pushes Little River to #49: real-estate affordability compared with the cities to the south, a lower cost of living than the inlet communities, and a small-town character that the AreaVibes user-rating component appears to reward.
The Bigger Picture
Florida’s 26 entries and Arizona’s eight together account for 68 percent of the list — a near-monopoly the two states have held on national retirement rankings for years. South Carolina is the only other state with multiple coastal entries, and all four sit within a 60-mile coastal corridor.
The Grand Strand has built out the airport, hospital, restaurant, and entertainment infrastructure of a much larger metropolitan area, and at a per-square-foot cost well below comparable Florida coastal markets. The Myrtle Beach metro consistently ranks in the top five fastest-growing U.S. metros by Census migration data, and Little River’s 11.45 percent growth since 2020 is what that migration looks like at the town level.
For Horry County, the practical read is that the Grand Strand is increasingly competing with Florida and Arizona for the same retiree migration dollar — not against the rest of South Carolina.
Honest Caveats
A national personal-finance publisher running a single third-party index is not the final word on where to retire. AreaVibes weights its components one way; Niche, Realtor.com, U.S. News, and Stacker weight theirs differently, and the same Grand Strand towns finish in different positions on each list. Garden City finished #12 on the 2025 Niche / Stacker small-town retirement list, and Pawleys Island — absent from the GOBankingRates list — frequently appears in other rankings.
Personal fit also matters more than any score. A retiree who values walkable downtowns reads these rankings differently from one who values waterfront access, or one whose first concern is proximity to a Veterans Affairs facility.
What It Means for Horry County Residents
National retirement rankings are a leading indicator for property values. Towns that appear on multiple lists tend to see sustained inbound migration, pushing home prices up and inventory down.
That migration also puts demand pressure on healthcare capacity. Tidelands Health, McLeod, and Conway Medical Center are already building out their Grand Strand footprints, and the timing matches the growth curve the Census data is recording.
For the tourism economy, repeated mentions on national retirement lists feed the visitor pipeline: people visit, like what they see, and either come back or move down. The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber and the Hammock Coast tourism office in Georgetown County have both leaned into the retirement-destination story for 2026.
What’s Not on the List
No other Grand Strand community made the cut. Pawleys Island, the city of Myrtle Beach, Conway, Surfside Beach, Litchfield Beach, Carolina Forest, and Georgetown were all absent from the 50 — either because they fell short of the population or 65-plus threshold, or because their AreaVibes score did not clear the cutoff.
That leaves a clean four-town story: Murrells Inlet and Garden City as the highest-ranked South Carolina entries, North Myrtle Beach in the back half, and Little River at #49. Whether all four hold their positions on the 2027 edition will depend on whether the AreaVibes inputs — housing cost, amenities, user ratings — keep up with the migration the Census data is already recording.
## Further Reading
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – GOBankingRates, “America’s 50 Most Livable Retirement Towns” (primary source): https://www.gobankingrates.com/retirement/planning/americas-most-livable-retirement-towns/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – Yahoo Lifestyle syndication: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/america-50-most-livable-retirement-110019308.html
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – AOL syndication: https://www.aol.com/america-50-most-livable-retirement-110019647.html
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – AreaVibes livability index methodology: https://www.areavibes.com/methodology/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 5-Year American Community Survey: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data.html
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – Tidelands Health (Waccamaw Community Hospital): https://www.tidelandshealth.org/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – Visit Myrtle Beach (Tourism Works for the Grand Strand): https://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – Hammock Coast (Georgetown County DMO): https://hammockcoastsc.com/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – Explore North Myrtle Beach: https://explorenmb.com/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – City of North Myrtle Beach: https://parks.nmb.us/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – Little River Chamber of Commerce: https://littleriverchamber.org/
Grand Strand retirement towns ranking – Hammock Coast coverage of Garden City and Murrells Inlet retirement rankings: https://hammockcoastsc.com/garden-city-murrells-inlet-named-to-top-50-best-towns-for-retirees-in-america/
