Horry County, South Carolina

Horry County is a county in South Carolina, United States, on the Atlantic coast about 90 miles
north of Charleston. It had a population of 351,029 at the 2020 census, an estimated 427,551 by
2025, and covers 1,254.73 square miles (3,249.6 km2) centred near 33°55′N 78°59′W.

Conway is the county seat; its postal code is 29526. The county holds 4 cities, 4 incorporated
towns and dozens of unincorporated communities and beach areas along the Grand Strand, and it runs
on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 45051.

Towns & Villages in Horry County

Horry County has the most land area of any county in South Carolina, and it is one of the
state’s largest by population — too large for one settlement list to name every place.
Eight places are incorporated: four cities and four towns. The table below lists all eight, then
a second table covers the eight largest unincorporated communities and census-designated places
(CDPs) by 2020 population; Horry County has 12 CDPs and more than 50 named unincorporated
communities in total, mostly small rural crossroads and beach neighborhoods with no population
count of their own.

The eight largest unincorporated communities and CDPs, by 2020 population:

Myrtle Beach’s three ZIPs split the city by neighborhood rather than by population; each
covers a distinct stretch of the Grand Strand. Surfside Beach and Briarcliffe Acres share their
ZIPs with Myrtle Beach’s own codes since both are small towns embedded in the same postal
service area. Atlantic Beach, a one-third-square-mile town founded by Black entrepreneurs in the
1930s as a beach resort open to Black visitors during segregation, is entirely surrounded by North
Myrtle Beach today.

ZIP Codes

• 29526 — Conway (the county seat’s main code)
• 29572 — Myrtle Beach (also serves Briarcliffe Acres)
• 29575 — Myrtle Beach (also serves Surfside Beach)
• 29577 — Myrtle Beach (downtown and the Boardwalk)
• 29579 — Myrtle Beach (also serves Carolina Forest)
• 29582 — North Myrtle Beach (also serves Atlantic Beach)
• 29588 — Myrtle Beach (also serves Socastee)
• 29569 — Loris
• 29511 — Aynor
• 29576 — Garden City
• 29566 — Little River

Red Hill, Forestbrook, Bucksport and Green Sea have no ZIP of their own; mail there is
delivered under the nearest incorporated city’s code.

Geography

Horry County sits at South Carolina’s northeastern corner, the state’s largest
county by land area, on the Atlantic coastal plain known locally as the Pee Dee region. Of its
1,254.73 square miles, 1,133.31 are land and 121.42 are water, about 9.7 percent — higher
than most inland South Carolina counties, reflecting more than 20 miles of ocean-facing barrier
beach plus the Waccamaw and Little Pee Dee rivers and the Intracoastal Waterway. The Waccamaw
River runs through Conway on its way to Winyah Bay, and the county’s highest ground reaches
only 124 feet above sea level.

Brunswick and Columbus counties in North Carolina lie to the northeast and north, Robeson
County, North Carolina to the northwest, Dillon and Marion counties to the west, and Georgetown
County to the south. Dillon County, Marion County and Georgetown County border Horry directly
on the South Carolina side.

Demographics

Horry County had a population of 351,029 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 427,551 residents, one of the fastest-growing counties on the East Coast. Myrtle
Beach and Conway are the two largest incorporated communities, though Carolina Forest and
Socastee, both unincorporated, each outnumber every town in the county except Myrtle Beach itself.
Median household income for South Carolina runs $67,804 (2023 ACS). Population density works out
to roughly 310 people per square mile of land, moderate for a coastal county whose growth is
concentrated along the beach corridor and the Carolina Forest suburbs west of Myrtle Beach.

Economy & Local Life

Tourism dominates the county’s economy: accommodation and food services account for
about 23.7 percent of employment, the largest single sector, with retail trade next at 18.2
percent. The Grand Strand’s roughly 60 miles of beach draw more than 20 million visitors a
year to Myrtle Beach alone. Major employers include Coastal Carolina University and Horry-Georgetown
Technical College, adidas’s regional distribution operations, Hilton Grand Vacations,
Food Lion, Publix, Walmart and the City of Myrtle Beach itself. Loris hosts the county’s
best-known inland event, the Loris Bog-Off Festival every third weekend of October, built around
chicken bog, a Pee Dee-region dish of chicken, rice, sausage and spices.

History

South Carolina’s legislature created Horry County in 1801, carving it from Georgetown
District. It was named for Peter Horry, a Revolutionary War cavalry officer who served under
General Francis Marion in the Pee Dee campaigns. Swamps and rivers isolated the county from the
rest of the state for more than a century, earning it the local nickname “the Independent
Republic of Horry.” Conway, founded in 1732 under the colonial Township Scheme and originally
called Kingston, became the county seat and takes its present name from Revolutionary War general
Robert Conway. Atlantic Beach was incorporated in 1966 by Black business owners who had run the
town as a segregation-era beach resort since the 1930s, and it remains the only historically Black
town on the Grand Strand.

Getting There

No interstate yet crosses Horry County, though I-73 and I-74 extensions are planned; US 17, US
76, US 378 and US 501 carry most through-traffic, along with SC 9, SC 22, SC 31, SC 544 and SC
707.

• Charleston — about 90 miles south
• Wilmington, North Carolina — about 60 miles northeast
• Florence — about 60 miles west
• Columbia — about 130 miles west

Myrtle Beach International Airport, three miles southwest of downtown Myrtle Beach, is the
county’s main commercial airport, with direct service to Atlanta, Boston, New York and other
major cities. Conway–Horry County Airport and Grand Strand Airport in North Myrtle Beach
handle general aviation. The county has no Amtrak station; the nearest is in Florence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Horry County located?
It sits on South Carolina’s Atlantic coast at the North Carolina line, about 90 miles north
of Charleston, bordered by Dillon, Marion and Georgetown counties in South Carolina and Brunswick,
Columbus and Robeson counties in North Carolina.

What is the population of Horry County?
351,029 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 427,551.

How big is Horry County?
1,254.73 square miles (3,249.6 km2) total, of which 1,133.31 square miles are land — the
largest land area of any South Carolina county.

What is the county seat of Horry County?
Conway, founded in 1732 as Kingston, is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in Horry County?
Eight incorporated places — the cities of Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway and
Loris, and the towns of Surfside Beach, Aynor, Briarcliffe Acres and Atlantic Beach — plus
12 CDPs including Carolina Forest and Socastee and more than 50 smaller unincorporated
communities.

What ZIP codes does Horry County use?
29526 for Conway; 29572, 29575, 29577, 29579 and 29588 for Myrtle Beach and its neighborhoods;
29582 for North Myrtle Beach; 29569 for Loris; 29511 for Aynor; and 29566 and 29576 for Little
River and Garden City.

What is Horry County known for?
The Grand Strand beach resort corridor centered on Myrtle Beach, one of the East Coast’s
busiest tourist destinations, and Atlantic Beach, the Grand Strand’s historically Black
town.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in South Carolina.