Communities in Myrtle Beach, SC

All of South Carolina is reasonably inexpensive when it comes to memory care, with the highest rates charged in Myrtle Beach. Coastal Charleston, at $4,931 per month, is also a more costly city for memory care. In Greenville, care averages $4,679 per month, and in Columbia near the center of the state, memory care averages $4,087 a month. Cheaper rates are available in Sumter, where $3,329 is the monthly average.

Note: Residential memory care is usually offered in assisted living facilities, and in general, memory care rates tend to be 20-30% higher than assisted living rates. No national database currently tracks memory care costs in the United States, so we’ve estimated the monthly memory care costs listed below by adding 25% to the rates listed in Genworth’s 2021 Cost of Care Survey.

Residential memory care in the Myrtle Beach area costs an average of $5,087 monthly. This is considerably higher than the state average of $4,515 per month, but well below the national average of $5,625.

While many families use their own funds or personal assets to pay for memory care, there are plenty of additional options to cover these costs. Some additional ways to finance memory care costs include:

• Veterans Benefits
• Life Insurance Policy
• Long-Term Care Insurance
• Reverse Mortgage

For more information about different ways to finance memory care, visit our Memory Care in South Carolina page.

Memory care is the second most costly form of senior care after nursing home care, which requires professional staff and averages $6,372 monthly in a semiprivate room. In-home care, which typically supports seniors who need help with activities of daily living such as grooming and meal preparation, averages $4,576 monthly in Myrtle Beach. Home health care, which requires some degree of medical intervention for wound dressing changes and medication management, is a bit pricier at $4,767. Assisted living care in a facility averages $4,070. Adult day care, the least costly form of senior support, averages $1,300 a month in the Myrtle Beach area.

The Bureau of Health Facility Licensing (BHFL) regulates all health care facilities and related care providers across the state of South Carolina, including Myrtle Beach. It licenses, inspects and enforces standards for facilities such as memory care residential facilities, nursing homes, hospices, home health agencies and adult day care centers.

• For a small beach community, Myrtle Beach is well-served by memory care facilities and excellent general hospitals. Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, the Tidelands Health System, and McLeod Health Seacoast each have multiple satellite facilities for urgent care and specialty services. A dedicated Memory Disorders Clinic is located nearby at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. 
• Although sales taxes are on the high side (8.7% in contrast to the U.S. average of 7.3%), South Carolina and Myrtle Beach are fairly tax-friendly to seniors. In addition to no taxes on Social Security, those over 65 can deduct up to $15,000 in retirement income from pensions and IRAs. Thus, many seniors end up paying no income tax. 
• Weather is one reason families and retirees flock to Myrtle Beach. Breezes off the water keep the town pleasantly comfortable in spite of hot and humid summers. Snowfall is scarce though fairly frequent in December. Air quality is considered above average in a state not known for tough environmental protections and that has no statewide climate plan.
• Retirees have always flocked to Myrtle Beach for its temperate climate, seaside location and cost of living that’s lower than the U.S. average. For seniors requiring residential memory care, this is reflected in average monthly costs of $5,087, which is considerably lower than the national average of $5,625.
• Myrtle Beach joined AARP’s Network of Age-Friendly Communities in 2020. The Network improves the lives of seniors in targeted communities through a commitment to improved urban infrastructure and accessibility.