Hilton Head isn’t the top place in SC to retire, study shows. Here’s why

Hilton Head Island may have one of the highest populations of seniors in the state, but a study from NY-based Smart Asset financial company says it’s not the No. 1 place to retire.

It’s actually No. 4 on the list, and it ranks that way because of some problems residents report with access to doctors’ offices and recreation centers.

While Hilton Head has the highest percentage of senior residents on the list at 35%, it also has the fewest doctors’ offices per 1,000 people.

To calculate the best retirement index, Smart Asset analyzed tax rates along with doctor availability, recreation centers, and retirement centers per 1,000 people.

Here are the top ten places to retire in South Carolina based on those metrics:

1. Seneca
2. Murrell’s Inlet
3. Myrtle Beach
4. Hilton Head Island
5. Greenville
6. Orangeburg
7. Camden
8. West Columbia
9. Georgetown
10. Anderson

While Hilton Head is tied for the lowest taxes in the top 10 places to retire in the state, it falls significantly behind in the number of doctors’ offices per 1,000 people.

Seneca has 5.7 doctors’ offices; Murrells Inlet reports 6.8; and Myrtle Beach has 7.9 offices per 1,000 people.

Hilton Head Island has just 2.5.

The finding illustrates an issue island residents have raised for decades.

Although the island’s gated communities provide extra security and medical assistance — both attractive to retirees — routine medical appointments can be delayed on Hilton Head because of a lack of availability.

Many patients on the island have visited their beloved doctors for years, but others worry about having to travel over the bridge for appointments or to Savannah to see specialists.

When Robert Schatz moved from Colorado to Sea Pines in August 2018, he told The Island Packet that it took him until October — and phone calls to 14 different doctors’ offices — before he found a Hilton Head primary care physician accepting new patients who was not concierge.

The rise of concierge medicine, or on-demand doctors, was detailed in a 2019 reporting project by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. The service has been popular on Hilton Head, and allows patients virtual access to doctors for a premium price.

As Hilton Head and other South Carolina cities deal with the coronavirus pandemic, safety and access to healthcare for older residents is front and center.

Hilton Head Mayor John McCann said early in his term he’d establish a committee to handle healthcare shortages, but there have been no public announcements or updates on such a committee.

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.