Sun News - The surge was led by bedroom communities such as Carolina Forest, which quintupled in population, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday. The county's growth rate is slightly higher than it was between 1990 and 2000, when Horry County swelled by 36.5 percent. Georgetown County grew at a much slower rate in the past decade, only seeing a single-digit increase in population. A few oceanfront and rural census tracts along the Grand Strand lost population. Horry County's population rose from 196,629 in 2000 to 269,291 in 2010, and only trailed Dorchester and York counties for highest growth rate. Overall, South Carolina's population grew 15.3 percent. The county is now the fifth most populous in the state, surpassing Lexington County. Greenville County is the most populous county in the state with 451,225 residents.
Coastal, urban and suburban counties in the state generally grew, but several rural counties lost population. Georgetown County grew at a slower rate than Horry, increasing 7.8 percent to 60,158 people from 55,797 in 2000. Bedroom communities - areas that are mostly residential - grew the fastest, with the census tract containing Carolina Forest experiencing population growth of 506 percent. That explains the population boom in Carolina Forest from 3,338 residents to more than 20,000 in the past 10 years. The Forestbrook neighborhood more than doubled its population with 125 percent growth and the Burgess area grew 87 percent. That trend also emerged in Georgetown County, where the Waccamaw Neck area - including Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island - grew the fastest.
Some coastal areas lost population, led by the census tract containing the area between U.S. 17 Business and the beach in Garden City, which saw a 15.5 percent dip. The population of an oceanfront census tract from 17th Avenue North in Surfside Beach to Fourth Avenue South in Myrtle Beach shrank 10.6 percent. Rural areas in Georgetown County mostly lost population, as did the census tract containing the city of Georgetown's downtown area, which lost roughly 400 residents. The city of Myrtle Beach grew 19.1 percent to 27,109 and is the 14th most populous incorporated place in the state.
Horry County Schools have already built River Oaks Elementary School to cope with Carolina Forest's growth, said Joe Burch, who coordinates planning for the district. The school is scheduled to open in August 2012. No other building is planned yet, but the district will look at the census to determine how to resolve disparities between different areas. Georgetown County Schools grew by about 100 students this year but lost about 1,000 students during the three previous years, mostly in rural areas, Superintendent Randy Dozier said. Waccamaw Neck was the only area of the county that showed strong growth. A new intermediate school has opened there and the high school is expanding.
