Pawleys Island is a tiny coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 135 people and five associated neighborhoods, Pawleys Island is the 282nd largest community in South Carolina. Pawleys Island home prices are not only among the most expensive in South Carolina, but Pawleys Island real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Pawleys Island is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 93.02% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Pawleys Island is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Pawleys Island who work in sales jobs (25.58%), business and financial occupations (20.93%), and healthcare (11.63%). Of important note, Pawleys Island is also a town of artists. Pawleys Island has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Pawleys Island’s character. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 25.58% 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 Pawleys Island 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. In addition, Pawleys Island is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums. It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Pawleys Island has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Pawleys Island has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Pawleys Island than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Pawleys Island may be for you. One of the nice things about Pawleys Island is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities. Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Pawleys Island spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 17.03 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the town are less than they would otherwise be. Pawleys Island is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.If knowledge is power, Pawleys Island is a pretty powerful place. 81.58% of the adults in Pawleys Island have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Pawleys Island in 2022 was $139,302, which is wealthy relative to South Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $557,208 for a family of four. The people who call Pawleys Island home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Pawleys Island residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Pawleys Island include English, Irish, Swedish, Scottish, and Scots-Irish. The most common language spoken in Pawleys Island is English. Other important languages spoken here include African languages and Arabic.
