STRWATCH.AI / SC / Myrtle Beach

Is a short-term rental legal in Myrtle Beach, SC?

HEAVILY REGULATED

Myrtle Beach regulates short-term rentals (defined in the zoning code as any rental of a dwelling for less than 90 continuous days) primarily through zoning, not a citywide STR permit.

See permits and requirements

Sources checked7 open items listed below

Legality turns on zoning district, not on whether the host is present. Zoning districts beginning with "R" (R5, R7, R8, R10, R15, RMM, RMH, RMH-MH) prohibit short-term/visitor-accommodation rentals, except the RMV district (explicitly created to allow visitor accommodations within a residential-classified, multi-family-high-density zone) and fewer than 30 grandfathered single-family houses citywide that were consistently used as short-term rentals prior to the current zoning code (per the city's official STR guidance page; no ordinance section enumerating the specific grandfathered parcels was located). Commercial, mixed-use, and resort-oriented districts (e.g., downtown commercial C7/C8, amusement (A), entertainment (E), campground (CG), highway-commercial districts) generally permit "visitor accommodations" as a listed use per the zoning code's permitted-use table (Article 15, ref. section 1503.A / 1501 use tables). No hosted-vs-unhosted distinction, owner-occupancy requirement, or numeric guest cap was found in any zoning, business-license, or tax provision reviewed. Ordinance 2024-69 (effective Dec. 10, 2024) additionally bars converting a qualifying short-term-rental building (>2 units, between Kings Highway and the Atlantic Ocean) to rental terms of 90+ days — a restriction on leaving short-term-rental use in that corridor, not a restriction on operating one.

Permits and requirements

City of Myrtle Beach Business License (Rental Property) Cost not verified
City of Myrtle Beach Business License Division / Financial Services Department
Renewal: Annual; renewal payment due April 30 each year. Late payments become delinquent (penalty 5%/month, capped at 30% of the fee) starting the day after the due date.
Required for all rental properties — short-term, long-term, residential, and commercial — per the business license ordinance adopted June 10, 2014, effective June 1, 2015. Fee is calculated on the business's gross receipts using the city's standardized, tiered, class/NAICS-based rate schedule (base fee + declining per-$1,000-of-receipts rate by revenue bracket; see officialHints BLRates.pdf). The specific rate class/table applicable to renting a single short-term-rental dwelling (as opposed to a hotel/motel-class or general Class 1-7 business) was not conclusively identified in the rate schedule reviewed, so cost is left null rather than guessed. New businesses/new owners must obtain the license before operating; the same 5%/month penalty applies to operating before licensing. Operating without a license is separately described in the FAQ as punishable by 'a fine of up to $1,092.00 and/or imprisonment,' with each day of violation a separate offense.
official source
Zoning District Eligibility (Visitor Accommodation Use) Cost not verified
City of Myrtle Beach Planning & Zoning Department
Renewal: N/A — a one-time determination tied to the parcel's zoning district, not a renewable permit
Before applying for a business license, an owner must confirm the property's zoning district allows 'visitor accommodations' (short-term rental, i.e. rental under 90 days). Districts beginning with 'R' do not allow it except the RMV district and fewer than 30 grandfathered houses citywide. Commercial/mixed-use/resort districts generally do allow it as a listed permitted use. No cost was identified for this zoning verification step itself (as distinct from the business license fee); the Zoning Division can be reached at 843-918-1179 to confirm a specific parcel.
official source
SC Retail License / Sales & Accommodations Tax Registration Cost not verified
South Carolina Department of Revenue
Renewal: N/A — one-time registration; returns filed periodically
A host who books exclusively through a marketplace facilitator (Airbnb, Vrbo/Expedia, or similar) is not required to separately hold an SC Retail License, because the facilitator is legally the retailer responsible for collecting and remitting state sales and accommodations tax on those bookings. A host who takes any bookings directly (outside a marketplace facilitator) is responsible for obtaining a retail license and collecting/remitting the tax on those direct bookings themselves. No state registration fee was identified and is left null rather than assumed to be $0.
official source

The full picture

Myrtle Beach regulates short-term rentals (defined in the zoning code as any rental of a dwelling for less than 90 continuous days) primarily through zoning, not a citywide STR permit. Every zoning district whose code begins with "R" (R5, R7, R8, R10, R15, RMM, RMH, RMH-MH — the city's single-family and multifamily residential districts) prohibits short-term/visitor-accommodation use outright, with two narrow exceptions: the RMV ("Multi-family Residential — High Density with Visitor Accommodations") district, which explicitly permits it, and fewer than 30 grandfathered houses citywide that were continuously used as short-term rentals before current zoning took effect. Short-term rentals are broadly a permitted commercial use in the city's commercial, mixed-use, and resort-oriented districts (downtown commercial, highway commercial, amusement, entertainment, campground, etc.) under the "visitor accommodations" use category. Any owner renting out real property in Myrtle Beach — short-term or long-term — must hold a City of Myrtle Beach business license (required since June 1, 2015), renewed annually by April 30 (5%/month penalty, capped at 30%, for late renewal; the same 5%/month penalty applies to operating a new rental before licensing), with the fee calculated on a gross-receipts sliding-scale schedule. Operating a rental business without a license is separately punishable by a fine of up to $1,092 per the city's own Business License FAQ (each day a separate offense), while the city's general STR/zoning guidance separately cites a misdemeanor cap of up to $500 and/or 30 days for zoning and business-license violations — both figures are reported here as stated in their respective official sources. As of December 10, 2024, Ordinance 2024-69 added a Short-Term Rental Conversion Overlay Zone covering all commercial-district parcels between Kings Highway and the Atlantic Ocean (29th Ave. S to 82nd Ave. N): any building of more than two units that was constructed for, or has ever been used as, a short-term rental cannot be converted to rental terms of 90 days or more — the ordinance restricts converting OUT of short-term use in that corridor, it does not restrict operating as a short-term rental. Combined taxes on gross short-term rental proceeds total 10%: 7% state (5% state sales tax + 2% state accommodations tax), 1.5% City of Myrtle Beach (0.5% Local Accommodations Tax + 1% Hospitality Fee), and 1.5% Horry County Hospitality Fee (the in-city rate; 3% applies outside city limits). Marketplace facilitators (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) are required by SC DOR to register, collect, and remit sales/accommodations tax on facilitated bookings, and hosts who book exclusively through such platforms are not required to separately hold a state Retail License.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
South Carolina State Sales Tax + State Accommodations Tax (combined) 7% (5% state sales tax + 2% state accommodations tax) Gross proceeds from rental of sleeping accommodations for stays of less than 90 consecutive days Yes source
City of Myrtle Beach Local Accommodations Tax + Hospitality Fee (combined) 1.5% (0.5% Local Accommodations Tax + 1% Hospitality Fee) Gross proceeds (listing price including cleaning/guest fees) from accommodations and short-term rentals for stays of less than 90 consecutive days, in addition to state and Horry County taxes Yes source
Horry County Hospitality Fee (in-city rate) 1.5% of gross proceeds (rate for businesses located inside city limits, e.g. Myrtle Beach; 3% applies outside city limits) Rental of transient accommodations for stays shorter than 90 consecutive days at the same location to the same patron Yes source

Enforcement

PenaltiesTwo figures appear across the city's own official sources and are reported as stated rather than reconciled: (1) the city's general short-term-rental/zoning guidance page states that violations of the zoning code and the business-license ordinance are misdemeanors carrying fines of up to $500 and/or 30 days' imprisonment upon conviction (https://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/news_detail_T6_R1468.php); (2) the city's Business License FAQ states that operating a business — including a rental — without the required license is 'subject to a fine of up to $1,092.00 and/or imprisonment,' with each day of the violation treated as a separate offense (https://cms6.revize.com/revize/myrtlebeachsc/Business%20License%20FAQs.pdf). Late business-license renewal separately carries a 5%/month penalty (capped at 30% of the fee). The city may also refuse to issue or renew a business license if the location is not zoned for the business type, if prior fees/penalties are unpaid, or if a violation of city ordinance exists.
Platform liabilityNo Myrtle Beach- or Horry County-specific ordinance provision addressing listing-platform liability, platform-side penalties, or restrictions on the city fining hosts based solely on an online listing was located in the sources reviewed. South Carolina Department of Revenue guidance separately makes marketplace facilitators (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) themselves responsible, as the legal retailer, for registering, collecting, and remitting state sales and accommodations tax on facilitated bookings.
NotesOrdinance 2024-69 (Short-Term Rental Conversion Overlay Zone) is being challenged in a lawsuit filed by MBSC Property South against the City of Myrtle Beach in February 2025 (removed to federal court in March 2025); no final ruling was located as of this research date. This does not currently change the ordinance's in-effect status but is flagged as an open legal risk to the rule's durability.

What we could not verify (7)

  • Exact business-license dollar cost for renting a single short-term-rental dwelling was not conclusively identified in the city's general gross-receipts rate schedule (BLRates.pdf), which is organized by broad revenue-based classes and specific NAICS categories (e.g., Hotel/Motel classes 9.91/9.92) rather than a clearly labeled 'residential/short-term rental' line; cost is left null rather than guessed.
  • Two different official City of Myrtle Beach sources state different maximum penalties for non-compliant rental operation: the general STR/zoning guidance page cites up to $500 and/or 30 days (misdemeanor cap), while the Business License FAQ cites up to $1,092.00 and/or imprisonment (per day) for operating without a license. Both are reported as stated; they were not reconciled against the underlying ordinance text (municode.com was unreachable during this task; see fetch-method caveat below).
  • The full City of Myrtle Beach Zoning Code (Appendix A) PDF used to cross-check district names, definitions, and use tables is dated January 22, 2019. It was not confirmed to reflect every zoning amendment enacted since then, aside from Ordinance 2024-69 (STR Conversion Overlay), which was separately verified from its own ordinance PDF. Hosts should confirm a specific parcel's current zoning status via the Planning & Zoning Department (843-918-1179) before relying on the general 'R-zones prohibited except RMV / grandfathered houses' characterization in this profile.
  • library.municode.com (Myrtle Beach's official code portal) returned HTTP 403/503 to automated fetch attempts throughout this task. Zoning-district and business-license-ordinance claims were instead corroborated via the city's own PDF documents (zoning code PDF, ordinance PDFs, Business License FAQ/rate PDFs) hosted on cityofmyrtlebeach.com / its cms6.revize.com CMS backend, and via the city's own informational web pages. No Wayback Machine capture was needed since these alternate official documents were directly fetchable.
  • Ordinance 2024-69 (Short-Term Rental Conversion Overlay Zone) is being challenged in a still-pending lawsuit (MBSC Property South v. City of Myrtle Beach, filed Feb. 2025, removed to federal court March 2025, seeking ~$6.5–10M in damages). No final ruling was located as of this task's research date (2026-07-18); the ordinance remains in effect but its long-term durability is not fully settled.
  • collectedByPlatform:true for all three tax lines is based on combining South Carolina DOR's marketplace-facilitator rule (which legally applies to state sales and accommodations tax) with the city's own reporting-form PDF describing what a 'provider' must collect, corroborated by Airbnb's own (non-governmental) help-center page describing what it collects for Horry County/Myrtle Beach bookings. No single government source explicitly confirms that Airbnb/Vrbo remit the city's 1.5% and the county's 1.5% local components in every case; this is treated as reasonably well-corroborated rather than definitively government-confirmed.
  • The 'fewer than 30' grandfathered pre-existing short-term-rental houses in R-zoned residential districts figure comes from the city's own official STR informational web page; no ordinance section or public list enumerating the specific grandfathered parcels was independently located.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /myrtle-beach-sc.md for AI tools and researchers.

STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, checked against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between the times we check it. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.