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Demographics of Georgetown County
Affluence Level in Georgetown County
A middle-class area roughly in line with national averages across income, home values, education, and employment.
People of Georgetown County
The people of Georgetown County, South Carolina, today number roughly 64,200, forming a community that is predominantly White (65.7%) with a substantial Black minority (28.7%) and a very small Hispanic (3.5%) and East/Southeast Asian (0.4%) presence. The county’s identity is rooted in its coastal Lowcountry heritage, with a population density of about 55 people per square mile, concentrated in the historic port city of Georgetown and the beachside town of Pawleys Island. Distinctive markers include a strong Gullah Geechee cultural legacy, a growing retiree and second-home community along the Waccamaw Neck, and a workforce tied to tourism, healthcare, and manufacturing, with 32.5% of adults holding a college degree.
Settlement & growth (pre-1960)
The human history of Georgetown County begins with the Waccamaw and Pee Dee Native American nations, who inhabited the region for thousands of years before European contact. The first European settlers were English colonists from Barbados, who arrived in the late 1600s and established rice plantations along the Waccamaw, Sampit, and Black Rivers. By the early 1700s, the town of Georgetown was founded as a port for exporting rice and indigo, becoming the third oldest city in South Carolina. The plantation economy relied heavily on enslaved Africans, primarily from the rice-growing regions of West Africa (Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone), who brought specialized knowledge of tidal rice cultivation. By 1790, enslaved people made up over 70% of the county’s population, a demographic reality that persisted through the Civil War.
After emancipation in 1865, many freed African Americans remained in the county as sharecroppers and tenant farmers, forming tight-knit rural communities in areas like Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet, and Andrews. The Gullah Geechee culture, with its distinctive language, cuisine, and crafts, emerged from this isolation and remains a defining element of the county’s identity. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a shift from rice to timber and turpentine production, as the rice economy collapsed after the Civil War. A small wave of European immigrants, mostly German and Irish, arrived to work in the timber mills and phosphate mines, settling in Georgetown town and the inland community of Plantersville.
The Great Migration (1910-1970) saw thousands of Black residents leave Georgetown County for industrial jobs in the North, reducing the county’s Black population share from over 70% in 1900 to about 40% by 1960. Meanwhile, the construction of U.S. Highway 17 and the opening of the Georgetown Steel mill in the 1940s brought a modest influx of White workers from the Upstate and neighboring North Carolina. The county’s population remained relatively stable through the 1950s, hovering around 40,000, with the economy anchored by paper mills, steel production, and a nascent tourism industry along the Grand Strand.
Modern era (post-1965)
The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act had a minimal direct impact on Georgetown County, as the foreign-born population today is just 1.2%, far below the national average. Unlike coastal South Carolina counties like Charleston or Beaufort, Georgetown did not attract significant international immigration. Instead, the county’s modern demographic shifts have been driven by domestic migration, particularly from the Rust Belt and the Northeast. Starting in the 1980s, retirees and second-home buyers from Ohio, Michigan, and New York began moving to the Waccamaw Neck, concentrating in Pawleys Island, Litchfield Beach, and Debordieu Colony. This wave transformed the coastal strip from a quiet summer colony into a year-round retirement and golf community, with gated subdivisions and high-end resorts replacing seasonal cottages.
The county’s Black population continued a gradual decline, falling from 40% in 1960 to 28.7% today, as younger Black residents moved to Charleston, Charlotte, or Atlanta for better job opportunities. The Hispanic population grew from negligible levels in 1990 to 3.5% today, driven by workers in the landscaping, construction, and hospitality industries. These families have settled primarily in Georgetown town and the rural area around Andrews, though no large ethnic enclave has formed. The East/Southeast Asian population remains tiny at 0.4%, with a small community of Vietnamese and Filipino families working in healthcare and fishing, concentrated in Georgetown town. The Indian subcontinent population is statistically zero.
Suburbanization has reshaped the county since the 1990s, with new subdivisions spreading along Highway 17 between Georgetown and Pawleys Island. The town of Murrells Inlet, historically a fishing village, has become a dense strip of restaurants, marinas, and retirement communities. The inland town of Andrews, once a railroad and timber hub, has seen population decline as younger residents leave for coastal jobs. The county’s overall population grew from 50,000 in 1990 to 64,200 today, a modest 28% increase, reflecting slower growth than the booming Myrtle Beach area to the north.
The future
Georgetown County is projected to become slightly more diverse over the next 10-20 years, but the pace will be slow. The Hispanic population is expected to grow from 3.5% to perhaps 6-7% by 2040, driven by continued demand for service workers in the tourism and retirement sectors. The Black population share is likely to stabilize around 27-28%, as outmigration slows and a small number of Black retirees return from the North. The East/Southeast Asian population may grow modestly to 1-2%, as healthcare and tech-adjacent jobs expand at the new Georgetown hospital and nearby manufacturing facilities. The White population, while still the majority, will continue to age, with the median age rising from 47 to over 50, as the county attracts retirees faster than young families.
New residential development will concentrate along the Waccamaw Neck, particularly in Pawleys Island and Litchfield Beach, where buildable land is shrinking. Inland areas like Andrews and Plantersville will see slower growth, as they lack beach access and major employers. The county’s cultural identity will remain rooted in its Lowcountry and Gullah Geechee heritage, but the influx of Northern retirees will continue to shift political and social norms toward a more moderate conservatism. The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, established by Congress in 2006, will help preserve the African American cultural legacy, even as the population that created it becomes a smaller share of the whole.
For someone moving in now, Georgetown County offers a stable, slow-growing community with a strong sense of place, a low crime rate, and a cost of living about 10% below the national average. The trade-off is limited job diversity, a high median age, and a social scene that revolves around golf, fishing, and church. The county is becoming a quieter, more retirement-oriented version of its coastal neighbors, with less diversity and less economic dynamism, but with a deep-rooted history that gives it a distinct character. It is a place where the past is still visible in the landscape and the people, and where the future will likely look much like the present, only a little older and a little more suburban.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-06-16T00:22:57.000Z
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