Myrtle Beach, SC Short-Term Rental Rules (2026)
Can I operate a short-term rental in Myrtle Beach?
Short-term rentals are allowed in resort and commercial districts with a business licence, but traditional residential neighborhoods are closed apart from a few grandfathered houses.
Key facts
What the record says about short-term rentals in Myrtle Beach, with the level of law each comes from. What do these facts mean?
Can you operate?
Stay limits
Taxes
Why this score
The main reasons Myrtle Beach scores the way it does. Listed most important first.
What holds it back
- Zone eligibility (Tourist zones only) lowers the score.Source
- Permit or license (Yes) lowers the score.
- State lodging tax lowers the score.
Not yet known
- 3 more factors — free account
- 24 facts are not yet established, so the score leans on typical values.
Operating restrictions
What limits how, where and how often you can rent in Myrtle Beach.
Occupancy / night caps / zoning limits
Zoning confines short-term rentals to eligible districts; fewer than 30 grandfathered houses exist in residential zones and no new ones can be added.
- Not allowed in R districts except RMV
- Grandfathered houses only in residential zones
Enforcement / penalties
Zoning and business-licence violations are misdemeanors; the city has pursued complaints and obtained a court order against one operator.
- Misdemeanor penalties for zoning/licence violations
New to this? Owner-occupied vs non-owner-occupied STRs, explained
Permit requirements
What you need to file or hold before hosting in Myrtle Beach.
Permits & licensing
A city business licence is required. Owners must confirm the property sits in an eligible zoning district before applying.
- City business licence required
- Verify zoning district before licensing
New to this? How short-term rental permits and licensing work
Taxes
Lodging, occupancy and related taxes or fees.
Taxes & fees
State accommodations and sales taxes plus local accommodations tax and hospitality fee apply. Platforms collect and remit for platform bookings.
- State sales and accommodations taxes
- City/county local accommodations tax
New to this? Short-term rental lodging taxes, explained
Recent changes
The dated change history is part of the free account. Email alerts above need no account.
Market assumptions
Estimates, not lawRevenue, occupancy and returns depend on the specific property and are estimates, separate from the rules above.
Run any property in Myrtle Beach through the deal analyzer for cash flow, cap rate, and long-term projections.
Sources
Last verified October 22, 2026 (19 days ago). Short-term rental rules can change between checks. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction before relying on this for a real decision.
- cityofmyrtlebeach.com › news_detail_T6_R1468.php
- avalara.com
- dor.sc.gov › tax/accommodations
- dor.sc.gov › Policy Manuals/Chapter 11 - Accommodations.pdf
- scstatehouse.gov › bills/3876.htm
- scstatehouse.gov › bills/442.htm
- scstatehouse.gov › bills/3861.htm
- wrdw.com
- airbnb.com
- horrycountysc.gov
- aol.com
- cityofmyrtlebeach.com › business/business_faq.php
A free STRVE account shows which rule each source supports, plus the full jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction breakdown, change history, and rule-change alerts for Myrtle Beach.
More STR-friendly options nearby
Nearby cities with a higher regulation score than Myrtle Beach.
- 85/100Wilmington~59 mi
Short-term rental rules near Myrtle Beach
All South Carolina cities →How we research this
The STRVE Score is our own regulation rating, built from seven levels of authority: state, county, town, HOA, deed restrictions, special districts, and platform rules. Each level is scored separately, with its own citations and the date we verified it. The headline number is the strictest of the seven, never an average, because the tightest rule is the one that governs you.
We keep a history of what a city's rules said before and when they changed, so a score that moves is traceable to the rule that moved it.
- Highly permissive
- 90+
- Friendly
- 70–89
- Moderate
- 45–69
- Heavily restricted
- 20–44
- Effectively banned
- 0–19
Not legal advice
STRVE is a research tool, not financial or legal advice. Always verify regulation, tax, and permitting details with the local jurisdiction and a licensed professional before you buy.
The STRVE Score and the seven-level breakdown are our own rating framework, not an official or government rating, and no jurisdiction endorses or reviews them. The rules behind them are researched from public sources with AI assistance and are current only as of the verification date shown, so they can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. None of it substitutes for advice from local counsel. Confirm every permit, tax, occupancy, and zoning requirement against the jurisdiction's own municipal code and with an attorney licensed in that jurisdiction before you buy, list, or operate. Terms of Service