Hilton Head Island, SC
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Hilton Head Island ranks 52nd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 66th for income. A household earns $88,348 a year while median rent runs $1,903/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (19th of 300), while hazard safety is the soft spot (299th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 277th and home prices 264th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Hilton Head Island, your take-home is worth about $59,582 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 66th of 300↑24%$88,348
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 193rd of 30098 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $90,135
- Per-capita income
- $51,843
- Full-time pay
- $45,026
Housing
- Median rent
- 277th of 300↑63.2%$1,903/mo
- Home value
- 264th of 300↑67.7%$511,100
- Property tax
- $2,448/yr · 0.5%
- Sales tax
- 7.50%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 19th of 3002.7%
- Bachelor's+
- 50th of 30042.9%
- Avg commute
- 222nd of 30026.5 min
People
- Population
- 237,393
- Population change
- +6.8%
- Median age
- 49.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 9%
- Broadband
- 95.9%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 299th of 300$50/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 22nd of 30014.9%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 12.1%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Commute
- – Hazard safety
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — beaufort mcas.
What jobs pay in Hilton Head Island
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $276,020
- IT managers
- $144,990
- Pharmacists
- $137,360
- Financial managers
- $128,900
- Software developers
- $125,760
- Lawyers
- $107,740
- General & operations managers
- $102,770
- Civil engineers
- $83,420
- Registered nurses
- $81,400
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,610
- Secondary school teachers
- $65,290
- Elementary school teachers
- $64,990
- Police officers
- $59,240
- Electricians
- $57,030
- Plumbers
- $54,870
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $52,530
- Carpenters
- $49,070
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $46,170
- Construction laborers
- $45,750
- Customer service reps
- $37,590
- Janitors
- $34,380
- Retail salespersons
- $33,880
- Cashiers
- $30,350
- Waiters & waitresses
- $19,830
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Hilton Head Island metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in South Carolina are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California1,704
- Florida1,165
- New York924
- Georgia888
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Hilton Head Island
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Hilton Head Island metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Hilton Head Island metro?
- Median gross rent across the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area is $1,903 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Hilton Head Island.
- What is the median household income in the Hilton Head Island metro?
- A typical household in the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area earns $88,348 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Hilton Head Island expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area runs about 2% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Hilton Head Island metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $90,135 (versus its face value of $88,348). CityLedger rates the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Hilton Head Island metro?
- The median home value across the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area is $511,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Hilton Head Island metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area is 2.7% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).