Surfside Beach is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 4,368 people and two associated neighborhoods, Surfside Beach is the 86th largest community in South Carolina. Surfside Beach real estate is some of the most expensive in South Carolina, although Surfside Beach house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.Surfside Beach is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Surfside Beach is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Surfside Beach who work in management occupations (14.49%), food service (11.53%), and sales jobs (10.99%). One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.68% 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 Surfside Beach is an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the town experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller town. Surfside Beach 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. As is often the case in a small town, Surfside Beach doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.The education level of Surfside Beach citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 39.46% of adults in Surfside Beach have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Surfside Beach in 2022 was $40,980, which is wealthy relative to South Carolina, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $163,920 for a family of four. However, Surfside Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. The people who call Surfside Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Surfside Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Surfside Beach include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Surfside Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include French and Spanish.
