Pawleys Island, South Carolina Short-Term Rental Market
Pawleys Island, SC STRs averaged $467/night at 71.5% occupancy in June 2026, with revenue up 4.6% year over year.
Quick Answer: Pawleys Island, South Carolina is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Pawleys Island/Georgetown market area is 71%. average monthly revenue in the Pawleys Island/Georgetown market area is $8,237. average daily rate in the Pawleys Island/Georgetown market area is $467. the top operator in the Pawleys Island/Georgetown market area is The Litchfield Company with 403 listings. market score is 53/100 (grade D).
Market data reflects the Pawleys Island/Georgetown regional market, which includes Pawleys Island. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Pawleys Island.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Pawleys Island, a barrier-island beach town on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast in Georgetown County, posted a $466.63 average daily rate at 71.5% occupancy for June 2026, the latest tracked month, with average revenue per listing of $8,237, among the highest in this data set. Occupancy and ADR both dipped slightly year over year, down 1.2% each, while revenue still rose 4.6%. The market’s investability score is a strong 88.18 out of 100, with rental demand at 75.16, though the total score is held to 52.53 by a 47.50 seasonality score and 58.95 regulation score.
Entire-place listings dominate at 98.1% of the roughly 2,800 tracked units, with private rooms just 1.9%. Bedroom mix skews toward larger homes relative to most markets: three-bedroom units are the largest segment at 25.9% of the 2,798 bedroom-tagged listings, followed by two-bedrooms at 24.3%, five-plus-bedrooms at 20.1% (a notably large luxury-home share), four-bedrooms at 13.9%, and one-bedrooms at just 15.8%. On booking channel, 57.8% of listings are dual-listed on both Airbnb and VRBO, 26.5% are VRBO-only, and just 15.7% are Airbnb-only, the highest VRBO concentration in this batch of markets.
The incorporated town has only about 130 year-round residents, but the broader Pawleys Island/Waccamaw Neck area is home to roughly 16,200 people and functions as a vacation-rental-dominated economy rather than a hotel-driven one. Tourism drives an estimated $300 million-plus in annual economic impact for Georgetown County, which collected a record $3.6 million in accommodations taxes for the year ending May 2025, up 7.4% year over year. Pawleys Island was named USA Today/10Best’s ‘Best Beach in South Carolina’ in both 2024 and 2025.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 29% |
| Feb | 51% |
| Mar | 58% |
| Apr | 57% |
| May | 58% |
| Jun | 73% |
| Jul | 76% |
| Aug | 61% |
| Sep | 50% |
| Oct | 46% |
| Nov | 37% |
| Dec | 34% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Pawleys Island are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Pawleys Island/Georgetown market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Pawleys Island/Georgetown market as a whole, which includes Pawleys Island, so these counts are not Pawleys Island-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Litchfield Company | 403 | 1,924 | ★ 4.34 |
| 2 | Tidelife Vacation Rentals | 196 | 3,965 | ★ 4.70 |
| 3 | DeBordieu Rentals | 145 | 1,811 | ★ 4.51 |
| 4 | Dune Beach Home Rentals | 142 | 326 | ★ 4.58 |
| 5 | The Dieter Company Vacation Rentals | 112 | 323 | ★ 4.76 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Pawleys Island?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for Pawleys Island are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 15.7% |
| vrbo | 26.5% |
| both | 57.8% |
Home Value Trends (Pawleys Island)
Typical home values, median sale prices, and the 10-year price trend for Pawleys Island are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Insights
Booking-window and length-of-stay analysis for Pawleys Island — how far ahead guests book and how to price around it — is available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term vacation rentals are legal and deeply embedded in Pawleys Island’s economy; the island functions as a classic Airbnb/Vrbo market with rentals rather than hotels. There is currently no documented STR permit, cap on rental nights, owner-occupancy, or primary-residence requirement. The town’s only STR prohibition on record was a temporary COVID-19 emergency ordinance that banned check-ins from March 28 to mid-May 2020, since expired.
As of recent reporting, the Town of Pawleys Island does not impose a municipal business license at all, reportedly the only nearby coastal town without one, though the town council has discussed adopting one, which could add a future licensing or fee requirement. Operators must register with the South Carolina Department of Revenue and collect lodging taxes: roughly 7% state tax on accommodations (6% sales plus 1% state accommodations) plus a 3% local accommodations tax administered by Georgetown County, for a combined lodging tax of about 10%. Stays of 30 or more continuous nights by the same guest are exempt as non-transient.
Enforcement is rated minimal, consistent with the absence of a permit regime. Investors should verify the latest requirements directly with Town Hall and Georgetown County Finance before purchasing, since a business-license program remains under active consideration and could change the regulatory picture.
Market Comparison
Pawleys Island’s 71.5% June occupancy runs well above the roughly 55% national median for short-term rentals, and its $466.63 ADR is more than double the roughly $220 national median ADR, among the highest ADRs in this batch of markets, reflecting the island’s upscale, larger-home inventory where single-family houses average $10,596 in monthly revenue. Revenue rose 4.6% year over year even as occupancy and ADR each slipped roughly 1.2%.
Top property managers in the market include The Litchfield Company (403 listings, 1,924 reviews, 4.34 average rating), Tidelife Vacation Rentals (196 listings, 3,965 reviews, 4.70 rating), and DeBordieu Rentals (145 listings, 1,811 reviews, 4.51 rating). Combined, these top three managers operate 744 listings, about 27% of the roughly 2,800 tracked units. The Dieter Company Vacation Rentals (112 listings, 323 reviews) posts the highest average rating among the top five at 4.76. Dune Beach Home Rentals rounds out the top five with 142 listings and 326 reviews. No single national brand dominates the way Vacasa does in some coastal markets, indicating Pawleys Island’s rental stock remains largely managed by regional and boutique firms rather than one large consolidator.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pawleys Island, South Carolina
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