Florence composite
60.2 /100
Grade C · weighted across 7 dims
2026 data Public-data reference. 11 dimensions compared
Florence, SC vs Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC
Side-by-side comparison across cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare, and environment — sourced entirely from U.S. federal data, no crowdsourced estimates.
Florence vs Myrtle Beach: composite livability scores
Florence and Myrtle Beach differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Florence has a cost-of-living index of 86.8 vs Myrtle Beach's 93.6 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $1,098/mo vs $1,465/mo.
Reading the Florence vs Myrtle Beach Comparison
Florence (SC) and Myrtle Beach (SC) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline — BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators — so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 86.8 for Florence against 93.6 for Myrtle Beach, a 6.9-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent — the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards — is $1,098/mo in Florence and $1,465/mo in Myrtle Beach, a $367/mo difference that compounds to $4,404 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 439.3 per 100,000 residents in SC vs 439.3 in SC, with property-crime rates of 1988.2 and 1988.2 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: SC lists 1,215 public schools at a 14.3:1 student-teacher ratio, while SC lists 1,215 schools at 14.3:1 — a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $7,732/yr in the Florence area versus $7,732/yr in Myrtle Beach — a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Florence and Myrtle Beach are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" — they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Myrtle Beach composite
46.6 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-6.9 pts
Florence vs Myrtle Beach BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$367 /mo
Myrtle Beach priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Florence
Florence composite (Grade C)
Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach composite (Grade D)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living PlainCost →
| Category | Florence | Myrtle Beach |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 86.8 | 93.6 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.3 |
| Services | 87.7 | 88.0 |
| Rents | 52.4 | 83.1 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Myrtle Beach gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Florence?
$
Equivalent in Myrtle Beach:
$107,915
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Florence: 86.8, Myrtle Beach: 93.6, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) PlainRent →
| Bedrooms | Florence | Myrtle Beach |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $850/mo | $1,145/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $856/mo | $1,229/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,098/mo | $1,465/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,317/mo | $1,805/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,499/mo | $2,111/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) PlainCrime →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Florence (SC) | Myrtle Beach (SC) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 439.3 | 439.3 |
| Property Crime | 1988.2 | 1988.2 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) PlainSchools →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 1,215 | 1,215 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 14.3:1 | 14.3:1 |
| Charter Schools | 7.2% | 7.2% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) PlainChildcare →
| Age Group | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $7,732/yr | $7,732/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $7,449/yr | $7,449/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $7,402/yr | $7,402/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) PlainEnviro →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 660 | 660 |
| Water Systems | 557 | 557 |
| Superfund Sites | 34 | 34 |
| Water Violations | 647 | 647 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) PlainAir →
| Metric | Florence | Myrtle Beach |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 47.0 | 40.0 |
| Good Air Days | 61.4% | 78.8% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 0 days | 0 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) PlainWater →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 45/100 | 45/100 |
| Total Violations | 38,355 | 38,355 |
| Health-Based Violations | 9,705 | 9,705 |
| Systems with Violations | 65.3% | 65.3% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) PlainHealthAccess →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 264 | 264 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) PlainHazard →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 36/100 | 36/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 70.7 | 70.7 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 65.2 | 65.2 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Florence more expensive than Myrtle Beach? ▼
Florence has a cost of living index of 86.8 compared to Myrtle Beach's 93.6 (national average = 100). Myrtle Beach is 6.9 points above Florence on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Florence and Myrtle Beach? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,098/mo in Florence vs $1,465/mo in Myrtle Beach, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $850/mo to $1,145/mo.
How do salaries compare between Florence and Myrtle Beach? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is Florence or Myrtle Beach safer? ▼
At the state level, SC has a violent crime rate of 439.3 per 100,000 residents compared to SC's 439.3 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1988.2 vs 1988.2 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Florence and Myrtle Beach? ▼
SC has 1,215 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.3:1, while SC has 1,215 schools at 14.3:1. Charter schools make up 7.2% of SC schools vs 7.2% in SC. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
Explore Further
Florence Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Myrtle Beach Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Florence Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Myrtle Beach Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Florence Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
Myrtle Beach Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
SC Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
SC Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
Relocate Florence to Myrtle Beach
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Relocate Myrtle Beach to Florence
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial