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Risk & Response

Horry County, SC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 89.1 Very High

383,016
Population
7
Departments
72
Stations
78
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
3.15
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
4th highest of 46
Life Safety per 100k
0.82
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
29th highest of 46
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$245.4M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
2nd highest of 46
Property Loss per Resident
$641
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
12th highest of 46

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Horry County, the largest single contributor is Hurricane, 31% of the life-safety total.

Horry County carries an expected 3 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $245.4M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 46 South Carolina counties. Nationally, Horry County ranks 168th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2031st for life safety per 100k residents, 65th for property loss, and 501st for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Horry County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Horry County.

Talk to us about Horry County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

85%
15%
Property (buildings): $245.4M (84.5%)
Life safety: $43.2M (14.9%)
Agriculture: $1.8M (0.6%)

Total expected annual loss: $290,395,153 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$13.3M
Tornado
$9.1M
Heat Wave
$5.0M
Earthquake
$5.0M
Cold Wave
$5.0M
Inland Flooding
$2.1M

By property loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$185.8M
Inland Flooding
$38.0M
Earthquake
$10.0M
Tornado
$5.2M
Coastal Flooding
$3.7M
Wildfire
$991K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Horry County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

29%
57%
14%
Career: 29% (2)
Combination: 57% (4)
Volunteer: 14% (1)
Residents per Station
5,320
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
18.8
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 7 departments registered in NERIS Public for Horry County, SC. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Horry County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 7 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Horry County Fire Rescue 339,529 $33.1M Very High 41
Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District 74,544 $8.5M Very High 9
Myrtle Beach Fire Department 38,938 $4.4M Very High 8
Conway Fire Rescue 27,104 $3.1M Very High 6
North Myrtle Beach Fire-Rescue 21,680 $2.5M Very High 5
Loris Fire Department 6,380 $661.9K Very High 1
Surfside Beach Fire Department 4,340 $561.1K Relatively High 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

13.2%
Poverty Rate
26.4%
Age 65+
18.8%
Disability Rate
11.7%
Uninsured
16.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
12.9%
Mobile Homes
27.0%
Vacancy Rate
0.1%
Wood Heat
$67,921
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

18
Last 10 Years
29
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo