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Folly Beach, SC

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.





Overview


Folly Beach is a very small coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 2,084 people and just one neighborhood, Folly Beach is the 133rd largest community in South Carolina.

Folly Beach home prices are not only among the most expensive in South Carolina, but Folly Beach real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Occupations and Workforce

Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Folly Beach is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Folly Beach is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Folly Beach who work in office and administrative support (20.61%), legal occupations (19.18%), and sales jobs (11.84%).

A relatively large number of people in Folly Beach telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 28.57% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Setting & Lifestyle

Another notable thing is that Folly Beach is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the city’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.

Residents will find that the city is relatively quiet. This is because it is not over-populated, and it has fewer college students, renters, and young children - all of whom can be noisy at times. So, if you're looking for a relatively peaceful place to live, Folly Beach is worth considering.

One of the nice things about Folly Beach is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

In Folly Beach, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 30.56 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

As is often the case in a small city, Folly Beach doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Demographics

The education level of Folly Beach ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Folly Beach, 43.57% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Folly Beach in 2022 was $61,847, which is wealthy relative to South Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $247,388 for a family of four. However, Folly Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Folly Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Folly Beach residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Folly Beach include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Folly Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Folly Beach, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

Real Estate

is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.

In addition, vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 78.9% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.

People

In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.

In addition, if you are planning to retire in South Carolina, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in South Carolina, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 97.2% of neighborhoods in SC. If a South Carolina retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Scottish and Eastern European ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 8.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Scottish ancestry and 3.2% have Eastern European ancestry.

The Neighbors

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the neighborhood in Folly Beach are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 67.3% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the neighborhood, 40.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 32.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (20.4%), and 6.7% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 100.0% of households. Some people also speak Italian (2.9%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.

In the neighborhood in Folly Beach, SC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (16.7%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (13.9%), and residents who report Italian roots (11.0%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (8.9%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (8.6%), among others.

Getting to Work

Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (46.2% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.

Here most residents (79.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


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