Food and drink · Small-town market · South Carolina
Sit-down restaurants in the Murrells Inlet, SC area
How the Murrells Inlet, SC area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for sit-down restaurants: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 34 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #438 of 538 scored small-town markets
#5 of 6 scored small-town markets based in South Carolina
- Listings
- 236
- 48 chain locations (20%)
- Official establishments
- 102
- +14.6% since 2019
- Household spending a year
- $99.8M
- On food away from home · $3,680 a household
- Spending per listing
- $423K
- 36% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 87.0
- 42% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 65,912
- +3.8% since 2020
See the sit-down restaurants around any address in the Murrells Inlet area
The site report maps the sit-down restaurants on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Murrells Inlet area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
For sit-down restaurants, the Murrells Inlet area has a Groundwork market score of 34 (lower middle): #438 of 538 scored small-town markets and #5 of 6 scored small-town markets based in South Carolina. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.
Household spending on food away from home in the Murrells Inlet area comes to about $99.8M a year: $3,680 per household, 10% below the U.S. average. That is about $423K of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 36% below the U.S. figure of $664K. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only sit-down restaurants.
The Murrells Inlet area has 236 sit-down restaurants on map listings as of September 2026. 48 of them (20%) are chain locations, against 29% across the U.S. That comes to 87.0 for every 10,000 households, 42% above the U.S. rate of 61.3.
Official counts show 102 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in the Murrells Inlet area in 2023, up 14.6% from 2019. That is one for every 266 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $350K has gone to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Murrells Inlet area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Murrells Inlet area grew 3.8%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Murrells Inlet area compares
The same measures for South Carolina and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all food away from home by the sit-down restaurants counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.
| Measure | Murrells Inlet area | South Carolina | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 87.0 | 59.9 | 61.3 |
| Spending per listing | $423K | $611K | $664K |
| Households per official establishment | 266 | 462 | 500 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | +14.6% | +5.5% | +1.5% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +3.8% | +8.5% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on food away from home | $3,680 | $3,660 | $4,070 |
| Median household income | $68,713 | $69,324 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 34 | 39 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 102+14.6% over the period
- Employees, 2023
- 2,579
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $71.1M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 21Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 23648 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 150The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 1
- Amount
- $350K
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as full-service restaurants in the Murrells Inlet area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in the Murrells Inlet area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 65,912+3.8% since 2020
- Households
- 27,129
- Median age
- 50.9
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 84%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 814 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 80
- Median household income
- $68,713
- Average household income
- $100,202
- Median home value
- $289,500
- Jobs located here
- 25,133
- Daytime population
- 61,754Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Murrells Inlet area?
These figures cover the whole small-town market. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the sit-down restaurants on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Murrells Inlet area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSit-down restaurants across South Carolina
Every South Carolina market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in South Carolina for sit-down restaurants, numbered among those based in South Carolina, with the Murrells Inlet area marked.
Top small-town markets in South Carolina
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Seneca, SC | 70 | 142 | 41.1 | $850K | +6.3% | #73 of 538 |
| 2Newberry, SC | 53 | 66 | 43.1 | $757K | +4.8% | #232 of 538 |
| 3Gaffney, SC | 51 | 102 | 46.2 | $656K | +3.7% | #258 of 538 |
| 4Greenwood, SC | 46 | 183 | 48.6 | $657K | +1.7% | #315 of 538 |
| 5Murrells Inlet, SC | 34 | 236 | 87.0 | $423K | +3.8% | #438 of 538 |
| 6Orangeburg, SC | 22 | 202 | 61.1 | $487K | −0.9% | #517 of 538 |
Other business types in the Murrells Inlet area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
- Restaurants and cafes37
- Sit-down restaurants34
- Fast food and sandwich shops70
- Pizza59
- Coffee shops and cafes64
- Bakeries and dessert shops68
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many sit-down restaurants are in the Murrells Inlet, SC area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 236 sit-down restaurants in the Murrells Inlet area. 48 of them (20%) are chain locations. The listings count restaurants of every cuisine, pizza included. Official counts show 102 businesses with payroll classed as full-service restaurants in 2023, up 14.6% from 2019. Another 21 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the Murrells Inlet, SC area spend on food away from home?
About $99.8M a year, or $3,680 per household. That is 10% below the U.S. average (an index of 90, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 236 sit-down restaurants on map listings, it comes to $423K per restaurant. That spending covers all food away from home, which sit-down restaurants share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 27,129 households in the Murrells Inlet area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Murrells Inlet, SC area compare with the U.S. for sit-down restaurants?
The Murrells Inlet area has 87.0 sit-down restaurants per 10,000 households, 42% above the U.S. rate of 61.3. Spending per restaurant is $423K, 36% below the U.S. figure of $664K. At the U.S. ratio of sit-down restaurants to household spending, the Murrells Inlet area would have about 150, against 236 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 266 households, against one for every 500 across the U.S. The official count rose 14.6% from 2019 to 2023, against +1.5% for the U.S.
How fast is the Murrells Inlet, SC area growing?
Population estimates put the Murrells Inlet area at 65,912 people in 2025, up 3.8% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 27,129 households. Median household income in the Murrells Inlet area is $68,713, 15% below the U.S. median of $80,734.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Murrells Inlet area scores 34 for sit-down restaurants (lower middle), #438 of 538 scored small-town markets.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Murrells Inlet area. It maps the sit-down restaurants on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for sit-down restaurants · All 56 business types in the Murrells Inlet area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Murrells Inlet area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the Murrells Inlet area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.