Pawleys Island is a tiny coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 135 people and five associated neighborhoods, Pawleys Island is the 282nd largest community in South Carolina.

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

Of important note, Pawleys Island is also a town of artists. Pawleys Island has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Pawleys Island’s character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 25.58% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.

Another notable thing is that Pawleys Island is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Pawleys Island’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.

In addition, Pawleys Island is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums.

The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Pawleys Island has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Pawleys Island a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

Pawleys Island is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

One of the benefits of Pawleys Island is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.03 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

Being a small town, Pawleys Island does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Pawleys Island, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Pawleys Island is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 81.58% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.

The per capita income in Pawleys Island in 2022 was $139,302, which is wealthy relative to South Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $557,208 for a family of four.

The people who call Pawleys Island home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Pawleys Island residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Pawleys Island include English, Irish, Swedish, Scottish, and Scots-Irish.

The most common language spoken in Pawleys Island is English. Other important languages spoken here include African languages and Arabic.