County profile

Partially sourced

Horry County

Horry County now has a first-pass South Carolina statewide county-government source anchor for county-office routing. Tiny home, RV, off-grid, container-home, ADU, water, septic, access, floodplain, wetland, and building-permit feasibility should still be confirmed through county staff, municipality checks, state environmental review, subdivision rules, private covenants, and parcel-level research before purchase.

County-level researchedParcel review requiredRV cautionTiny-home review neededLand availability signal

Profile boundary

County Profiles Do Not Approve Parcels

This profile summarizes county-level signals. Before relying on a parcel, verify current rules with planning, zoning, building, environmental health, water, road, fire, title, and local professionals.

Read disclaimer

Verification queue

What Still Needs Confirmation

This profile has official source coverage for county-level discovery, but it still needs stronger current county-office confirmation before being promoted to verified. Treat it as a shortlist candidate, then confirm the exact parcel and intended use with local offices.

Office path

Current county contact

Confirm who handles planning, subdivision, rural addressing, floodplain, permitting, and enforcement for the parcel.

Parcel path

Exact intended use

Ask about the specific structure, RV or camper occupancy plan, water source, septic path, access road, and development sequence.

At a glance

Fast Read

County-level discovery summary for alternative housing research. Use this as a shortlist signal, then verify the specific parcel and code path.

Verify first
Overall

Mixed discovery fit

Horry County has a Freedom Score of 52. Its strongest profile signals are ADUs (4/5) and Container homes (3/5).

Best use case

Lowcountry and Coast rural land screening

Best initial fit: Lowcountry and Coast rural land screening, South Carolina county-office due diligence, parcel-level alternative living research. Check county planning materials before making parcel assumptions.

Land signal

81/100 affordability score

$7,964 per acre snapshot with 785 active land listings and a 5/5 availability signal.

Caution

RV living needs extra review

do not treat this South Carolina source pass as parcel approval

Lifestyle indexes

Decision Signals by Goal

These indexes translate the county data into practical shortlisting signals for common alternative-living goals. They are discovery scores, not parcel approvals.

Methodology
Housing Freedom Index54

Tiny homes, RV living, ADUs, container homes, and land cost signals.

Off-Grid Freedom Index57

Off-grid score, solar, rural land availability, low density, and utility friction.

Homestead Freedom Index79

Land affordability, availability, growing season, density, and water-climate signals.

Land Affordability Index81

Price-per-acre snapshot, land availability, and county-level tax burden context.

Connectivity Index81

Broadband proxy, wired access, cellular reliance, and remote-work suitability.

Trust strip

Source Snapshot

Fast source context for this county profile. Use the full source trail below for links, citations, and parcel-level verification reminders.

Data status
Land snapshotsourced
Jun 12, 2026

LandWatch

Broadbandsourced
2024

Census Reporter ACS 2024 5-year table B28002

Public landsourced
2026

USGS PAD-US Manager Type GIS layer

Solar periodsourced
2001-2020

NASA POWER 2001-2020 solar irradiance climatology

County citationssourced
17

Planning, zoning, building, and profile links

Best Fit

Lowcountry and Coast rural land screeningSouth Carolina county-office due diligenceparcel-level alternative living research

Pros

  • https://www.sccounties.org/county-information provides a first-pass South Carolina county-government routing anchor
  • South Carolina building-code, onsite wastewater, water, wetland, and floodplain resources support statewide due diligence
  • this record can be compared against climate, solar, broadband, public-land, tax, and land-market layers already collected

Cons

  • this is a statewide source-anchor pass, not a county-office confirmation or zoning interpretation
  • county source depth still needs office confirmation and county-specific planning or permit route replacement
  • city jurisdiction, subdivisions, floodplain, coastal/wetland constraints, covenants, utilities, well/septic feasibility, road access, and local code enforcement can change the parcel-level answer

Alternative Housing Ratings

derived

Verified county-level discovery scores

Tiny Homes
2/5
RV Living
1/5
Off Grid
2/5
Container Homes
3/5
ADUs
4/5

Alternative Housing Notes

Tiny Homes

Tiny home feasibility in Horry County is not confirmed by this South Carolina source pass. Use county planning, zoning, building, environmental-health, and municipal staff to verify zoning district, dwelling classification, manufactured-home treatment, minimum-size rules, foundation or mobility status, building permits, utilities, sanitation, access, floodplain, coastal or wetland constraints, subdivision rules, and private covenants.

RV Living

Long-term RV or camper occupancy in Horry County should be confirmed directly with county or municipal staff. Review occupancy duration, camping restrictions, construction-use rules, utility hookups, wastewater disposal, driveway access, emergency access, road maintenance, floodplain, coastal storm exposure, subdivision covenants, and whether the parcel is inside a city or regulated development.

Off Grid

Off-grid projects in Horry County should verify county process, South Carolina onsite wastewater requirements, private well or public-water availability, legal access, floodplain, wetlands, storm and hurricane exposure where relevant, emergency response, road maintenance, and private restrictions before relying on rural acreage.

Container Homes

Container-home projects in Horry County should be reviewed as dwelling or structure proposals through county staff and any applicable municipal jurisdiction. Engineering, foundation, insulation, wind load, egress, utilities, sanitation, fire access, coastal wind or flood exposure, and local code adoption may matter.

ADUs

ADU feasibility in Horry County is parcel-specific. Confirm zoning, primary-dwelling status, occupancy limits, building review, utilities, septic or sewer capacity, driveway access, municipal jurisdiction, coastal or floodplain limits where relevant, and private covenants.

Land Affordability

sourced

Sourced market snapshot

Price/Acre Estimate
$7,964
Active Land Listings
785
Availability Score
5/5
Affordability Score
81/100

Source: LandWatch snapshot from June 12, 2026. LandWatch county page snapshot. Active listing count is from the county page title/metadata; medianAcrePrice is the median asking price per acre from visible page listing data (25 nonzero sampled listings), not a full-market median or appraisal.

How to read source layers

Population Context

sourced

Sourced Census estimate

Population
413,391
Population Density
364.6 / sq mi

Population uses 2024 U.S. Census county estimates. Density is computed from county land area in the imported GeoJSON boundary data.

Water and Septic

draft

Parcel-level verification needed

Water

Water availability in Horry County is parcel-specific. South Carolina water-withdrawal and environmental resources are useful starting points, but buyers should verify public-water access, private well feasibility, testing, drought exposure, coastal saltwater intrusion where relevant, and subdivision-specific limits.

Septic

Septic feasibility in Horry County requires parcel-level review with South Carolina environmental-health authorities and any county process, including soils, setbacks, floodplain, wetland proximity, water-source separation, system design, installation, repair area, and county-specific requirements.

Climate, Utilities, and Access

derived

Mixed sourced and derived layers

Snowfall
0.3"
Precipitation
55.8"
Growing Season
324 days
Broadband
9/10
Solar
7/10
Public Land
49,583
Recreation Access
3/5
Federal Public Land
25,259
State Public Land
22,874
Local Public Land
1,450

Public land source: USGS PAD-US Manager Type GIS layer snapshot from 2026. County-clipped GIS estimate using PAD-US 4.1 manager type records for South Carolina. Includes federal, state, local, and district-managed polygons; excludes tribal, NGO, and private-managed records. This is a discovery-level public/protected lands estimate, not a parcel-level access determination. Sample matched labels: 24th Avenue North Park; 48Th Avenue North Park; Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE), Horry, SC; All Children's Park; Alliance Inn; Anderson Park; Archibald Rutledge Park; Aynor Area Passive Park; Aynor High Field; Aynor Town Park; Balsam Street Park; Barc Park South; Bark Park; Base Recreation; Bayboro Park; Bent Oaks Park; Boardwalk; Bratcher Park; Breakers Park; Bucksport Park; Burgess Park; Cameron Park; Canal Street; Carolina Forest Site 1; Carolina Forest Site 2; Carolina Forest Site 3; Cartwheel Bay Heritage Preserve / Wildlife Management Area; Central Park; Chapin Park; Cherry Grove Park and Boat Ramp; City Maintained Area; Coastal Federal Field; Collins Park; Conway Dog Park; Conway Recreation Complex; Enterprise Boat Landing; Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP), Horry, SC; Fitness Trail; Frank Beckham Complex; Frink Park; Fuller Park Complex; Futrell Park; Garden City Park; Gardens by the Sea; Grand Park; Gray Park; Green Sea Floyds Park; Greenwood Park; Gunters Lake Boat Landing; Heniford Recreation Field; Heritage Shores Nature Preserve; Hibben Memorial Public Beach Access; Hill Street Park; Horry County Bike Run Park; Huckabee Recreation Complex; Huggins Boat Landing; Hughes Landing; Hurl Rock Park; J.M. Shelley Tract; JM and SL Shelley Tract 1; JM and SL Shelley Tract 2; Lacie Shelley Tract; Lake; Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve / Wildlife Management Area; Little Pee Dee Heritage Preserve / Wildlife Management Area; Loris Nature Park; Loris Recreation Fields; Lyons Cove Park; MacCleod Park; Main Street Mini Park; McLean Park; McMillan Park; McNeil Park; Michael Morris Graham Park; Midway Park; Myrtle Beach State Park; Nance Plaza; North Myrtle Beach Park And Sports Complex; Ocean Forest Memorial Park; Ocean Park.

Broadband Subscription
92.5%
Cable/Fiber/DSL
78.6%
Satellite
4.3%
No Internet
4.5%

Broadband source: Census Reporter ACS 2024 5-year table B28002 snapshot from 2024. Broadband score is a county-level ACS household broadband subscription proxy, not parcel-level service availability. Score is based on the percentage of households with broadband of any type.

Annual Solar Resource
4.63 kWh/m²/day
Winter Solar
2.82 kWh/m²/day
Summer Solar
6.15 kWh/m²/day

Solar source: NASA POWER 2001-2020 solar irradiance climatology for 2001-2020. County-centroid solar proxy using NASA POWER ALLSKY_SFC_SW_DWN annual all-sky surface shortwave downward irradiance. This is a county-level solar resource estimate, not a parcel-level PV design study.

Source glossary and data layer notes

Red Flags

  • do not treat this South Carolina source pass as parcel approval
  • verify jurisdiction, zoning district, building permits, sanitation, water well or water service, legal access, floodplain, wetlands, storm exposure, fire response, covenants, easements, agricultural restrictions, subdivision restrictions, and whether the parcel is inside a municipality, special district, conservation area, coastal zone, or private development

Source Trail

County office links, sourced data layers, and profile citations used to build this county-level research summary.

Source glossary

County Profile Citations

Research Status

draft

County-level profile reviewed; parcel-level confirmation still required

This profile is currently marked partially sourced. It is ready for county comparison and early research, but legal claims and parcel-specific decisions should still be verified against county code, planning offices, and local experts.

County FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Horry County a good county for alternative living?

Horry County has a Freedom Score of 52, which makes it useful for county-level discovery. Treat that score as a shortlist signal, then verify zoning, building, water, septic, access, and covenant rules for the specific parcel.

Can you live in a tiny home in Horry County?

Horry County has a tiny home score of 2/5. That score does not approve a tiny home by itself; it means the county is worth researching through planning, zoning, building code, sanitation, and parcel-specific rules.

Can you live in an RV on land in Horry County?

Horry County has an RV living score of 1/5. RV rules often depend on duration, construction status, sanitation, water, zoning district, and whether the land is inside a subdivision or municipality.

Is Horry County good for off-grid living?

Horry County has an off-grid score of 2/5. Off-grid feasibility still depends on legal access, septic or OWTS approval, water options, fire risk, winter access, and whether a lawful dwelling can be permitted.

How affordable is land in Horry County?

Horry County has a land affordability score of 81/100 based on the current county-level dataset. Use this for comparison only, because actual parcel prices can vary by road access, utilities, terrain, water, covenants, and listing quality.

Who is Horry County best suited for?

Based on the current profile, Horry County is best suited for Lowcountry and Coast rural land screening, South Carolina county-office due diligence, parcel-level alternative living research. The best fit can change once you narrow from county-level research to a specific property.

What should I verify before buying land in Horry County?

Before buying, confirm zoning, building permits, legal access, road maintenance, water rights or well eligibility, septic feasibility, wildfire requirements, floodplain issues, mineral rights, and any HOA, POA, subdivision, or covenant restrictions.

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