What is the average rent in Folly Beach, SC?

Folly Beach has no purpose-built apartment community with its own published pricing. Long-term rentals here run through vacation-rental agencies that also handle short-term bookings -- Carolina One Vacation Rentals lists Folly Beach properties such as a 3-bedroom townhome (20 Turtle Bay) and a 4-bedroom home (45 Lempesis) as available for 30-day-or-longer stays, but does not publish a monthly rate for either, directing inquiries to a phone line instead. Rent.com's own Folly-Beach-scoped search separately reports a $10,296/month average across its listed rentals -- a figure almost certainly skewed by the large multi-bedroom beach houses that dominate available inventory rather than a typical unit, and not treated here as a reliable benchmark.

Why has Folly Beach's population declined even though it remains a popular beach destination?

Folly Beach's Census-reported population fell from 2,617 in 2010 to 2,078 in 2020, a 20.6% drop. Over roughly the same period, its short-term rental market expanded sharply: licensed units grew from 329 in 2015 to 1,196 by 2022, according to figures the city's own short-term rental committee compiled, reaching nearly half of the city's roughly 2,391 housing units before voters capped new licenses at 800 in a February 2023 referendum. The Census Bureau separately reports 55.8% of Folly Beach's housing units as vacant and a 12.9% rental vacancy rate -- both consistent with a large share of the housing stock functioning as non-primary-residence vacation property rather than year-round housing. Full causal attribution can't be established from public data alone, but the scale and timing of the two trends line up closely enough that short-term-rental conversion is the most plausible driver identified for this guide, not a confirmed single cause.

Does Folly Beach cap short-term vacation rentals?

Yes. Folly Beach voters approved a citywide cap of 800 short-term rental licenses in a February 2023 referendum, set at what the city's own short-term rental committee identified as the highest number of licenses ever recorded, using five years of historical data through 2021. The cap has stayed at capacity since adoption, with existing license holders able to renew but new licenses issued only as existing ones lapse; a 2024 ordinance change also requires a property to be rented at least 28 days in a calendar year to keep an active license, and licenses cannot be transferred between owners. By comparison, neighboring Charleston, Sullivan's Island, and Myrtle Beach ban whole-house short-term rentals in residential zones outright, Mount Pleasant limits them to 1% of housing, and Kiawah Island allows up to 20% -- Folly Beach's roughly one-third cap sits well above each of those.

Does Folly Beach have local tenant protections beyond South Carolina law?

No local ordinance identified for this guide adds tenant-facing protections -- habitability, notice periods, deposit handling -- beyond South Carolina's statewide baseline for a standard annual lease. Folly Beach's own Code of Ordinances is built almost entirely around regulating short-term rentals (business licensing, occupancy, life-safety, and the 800-unit cap) rather than long-term tenancies; a Long-Term Rental (LTR) license exists for properties rented 30 days or more, but it functions as a landlord business-license category, not an expansion of tenant rights. No local rent control exists; South Carolina Code §27-39-60 bars any city or county from regulating rent on privately owned residential property.

Is a Folly Beach lease negotiable?

Since Folly Beach has no corporate apartment community with a standardized lease, terms for any confirmed long-term rental would be set by an individual homeowner or their rental agency rather than a leasing office, so they likely vary property to property. Commonly negotiated in this kind of small, owner-by-owner market: the exact lease start/end date and length, since the agencies serving Folly Beach primarily advertise 30-day-minimum stays rather than a fixed annual term, along with pet policies and whether the unit is furnished or unfurnished.

Renting in Folly Beach, SC: Lease Guide & Tenant Rights

Folly Beach Rental Market Overview

Folly Beach is a barrier island city in Charleston County, roughly 10 miles south of downtown Charleston, incorporated as a town in 1938 and chartered as a city in 1973. It covers 18.87 square miles total -- 12.51 square miles of land and 6.36 square miles of water -- and its Census-reported population has moved sharply in the last decade: 2,617 in 2010, down to 2,078 in 2020, a 20.6% decline. That drop tracks closely against the island's short-term rental boom: licensed short-term rental units grew from 329 in 2015 to 1,196 by 2022, according to figures the city's own short-term rental committee compiled, reaching nearly half of Folly Beach's roughly 2,391 total housing units before voters capped new licenses at 800 in a February 2023 referendum. The Census Bureau separately reports 55.8% of the city's housing units as vacant overall and a 12.9% rental vacancy rate, both consistent with a large share of housing functioning as vacation property rather than year-round residences. Against that backdrop, no purpose-built, multi-unit apartment community with its own published pricing was identified inside Folly Beach -- what long-term rental market exists here runs through vacation-rental agencies rather than a standard leasing office.

-20.6%

Population Change, 2010–2020 (2,617 → 2,078)

~50%

Housing Stock in the STR System at 2022 Peak

Landlord-Favored

Market Type

Common Lease Terms in Folly Beach

No apartment community publishes a standard lease for Folly Beach, so what follows is drawn from the terms the agencies serving its identifiable long-term listings describe on their own sites.

Carolina One Vacation Rentals lists Folly Beach properties -- including a 3-bedroom townhome (20 Turtle Bay), a 4-bedroom house (45 Lempesis), and a 3-bedroom, pet-friendly house (321 W Hudson) -- as available for stays of 30 days or longer, framed as "30+ Day Rentals Only" rather than a fixed annual term
None of the agency's own listing pages discloses a monthly rate, deposit amount, or pet fee; pricing is quoted directly to inquiries by phone
Separately, the city's own Long-Term Rental (LTR) license category applies to any homeowner renting a property for 30 days or more at a time, distinct from the Owner-Occupied and Investor Short-Term Rental license categories used for stays of 29 days or fewer

Local Tenant Protections

South Carolina law provides the baseline for tenant rights, but Folly Beach may have additional local ordinances that affect your lease.

No Folly Beach ordinance identified for this guide adds tenant-facing protections -- habitability, notice periods, deposit handling -- beyond South Carolina's statewide baseline for a standard annual lease
Folly Beach's own Code of Ordinances (Chapter 117) is built almost entirely around regulating short-term rentals -- business licensing, occupancy limits, life-safety requirements, and the 800-license cap -- rather than long-term tenancies; a Long-Term Rental license is a landlord business-registration category, not an expansion of tenant rights
City Hall, at 21 Center St, was confirmed inside Folly Beach's incorporated city limits using the Census Bureau's geocoder, consistent with the whole island sitting within one municipal boundary rather than the patchwork jurisdiction seen on some mainland Charleston-area addresses
No local rent control; South Carolina Code §27-39-60 expressly bars any county or municipality from regulating rent on privately owned residential or commercial property

South Carolina statewide baseline

Security deposit cap: No cap
Deposit return: 30 days
Landlord entry notice: 24 hours
Rent regulation: None statewide

Statutory basis: S.C. Code §27-40-410/-530. Figures verified June 2026 against the primary statute. Statutes change — a lawyer in South Carolina can confirm what applies to a specific tenancy.

For full South Carolina statewide tenant rights, see our South Carolina tenant rights guide.

Mandatory Fees and Costs for Folly Beach Long-Term Rentals

Because Folly Beach's identifiable long-term rental channel runs through vacation-rental agencies rather than a standard apartment community, no public fee schedule could be confirmed for an actual annual-style lease as of September 2026.

Carolina One Vacation Rentals advertises three Folly Beach properties available for 30-day-or-longer stays but does not publish a deposit amount, pet fee, or application fee on its site; terms are quoted directly to inquiries
South Carolina sets no statutory cap on security deposits, application fees, or pet fees for a standard lease -- whatever a specific rental agreement states is what governs
Short-term-rental operators face a separate, unrelated cost: an owner-occupied or investor STR business license starting at $245 (covering the first $2,000 of rental income) plus $2.75 for each additional $1,000 earned -- an operator's licensing cost, not a fee charged to a long-term tenant

A rental agency that quotes pricing only on inquiry isn't unusual in a market this small and this vacation-oriented -- but it does mean confirming the deposit amount, pet policy, and exact lease length in writing before treating any listing as a standard annual lease.

Folly Beach's Housing Squeeze: How Short-Term Rentals Reshaped the Market

Folly Beach's short-term rental market grew from 329 licensed units in 2015 to 1,196 by 2022 -- a nearly fourfold increase in seven years -- reaching close to half of the city's roughly 2,391 total housing units, per figures compiled by the city's own short-term rental committee using five years of historical data through 2021. Facing projections that the share could climb to 60-70% without intervention, voters approved a citywide cap of 800 licenses in a February 2023 referendum, set at what the committee identified as the highest number of licenses ever recorded on the island. The cap has remained at capacity since, with existing license holders eligible to renew but new licenses issued only as others lapse; a 2024 ordinance change further requires a licensed rental to be rented at least 28 days a year to keep its license active, and licenses cannot be transferred between owners. Folly Beach's roughly one-third cap is notably looser than several of its neighbors -- Charleston, Sullivan's Island, and Myrtle Beach ban whole-house short-term rentals in residential zones outright, and Mount Pleasant limits them to 1% of housing -- though tighter than Kiawah Island's 20% allowance.

That imbalance tracks the island's physical limits: 12.51 square miles of land, largely built out, with Center Street functioning as the city's walkable commercial core -- a mix of surf shops, gift shops, restaurants, and bars (Aqua Beach Store, Folly Trading Co., Beachwear & Gifts, and NATIVE among the named retailers there) oriented squarely toward day-trippers and vacationers rather than a resident customer base. Against a housing stock where the Census Bureau reports 55.8% of units as vacant and only a 12.9% rental vacancy rate, a genuine year-round rental pool is thin, and what does exist is placed through the same vacation-rental agencies that handle the island's much larger short-term market.

A market where close to half the housing stock has cycled through short-term licensing since 2015 leaves renters little room to comparison-shop for a standard annual lease on the island itself -- mainland Charleston-area suburbs carry far more conventional apartment supply, typically at a fraction of what a Folly Beach vacation property commands.

Common Issues Renters Face in Folly Beach

These are the most frequent lease-related considerations this guide's research turned up for Folly Beach:

Confirming whether a listing is a genuine 30-day-or-longer rental or a short-term vacation booking -- Folly Beach's own code and its everyday rental agencies are both built primarily around the short-term side of the market
Thin long-term inventory compared to mainland Charleston-area suburbs, since close to half of Folly Beach's housing stock has cycled through short-term-rental licensing at various points since 2015
Pricing opacity -- the identifiable long-term listings this guide found require a direct inquiry rather than publishing a monthly rate, unlike a standard apartment listing
A 55.8% overall housing vacancy rate, per Census data, signals that a large share of Folly Beach's housing exists for seasonal or investment use rather than a stable year-round rental pool

Negotiating Your Lease in Folly Beach

South Carolina is landlord-favorable with minimal statutory protections, and Folly Beach's thin, owner-by-owner long-term rental supply narrows a renter's leverage further -- confirming specifics in writing matters more here than at a corporate apartment community with a standardized lease.

Confirming the exact lease length and start/end dates before signing is reasonable, since the agencies serving Folly Beach's identifiable long-term listings frame availability around 30-day minimums rather than a fixed annual cycle
Requesting a written deposit amount, pet fee, and any additional charges before applying is worth doing, since none of the identified listings publish this information
Commonly negotiated: furnished-vs-unfurnished terms, since the identified inventory (beach houses and townhomes) skews toward vacation-ready furnished properties rather than a standard unfurnished apartment
Comparing a quoted Folly Beach figure against nearby Charleston, Mount Pleasant, or James Island rentals -- mainland-adjacent markets with more conventional apartment supply -- can help gauge whether a specific quote is reasonable for the region

Local Tip for Folly Beach Renters

Before treating a Folly Beach listing as a standard annual lease, confirm it's actually licensed for long-term occupancy rather than short-term rental -- the city's own code distinguishes a Long-Term Rental license (30 days or more) from its Owner-Occupied and Investor Short-Term Rental licenses (29 days or fewer), and with close to half the island's housing stock having cycled through the short-term system since 2015, a listing's mailing address or photos alone won't tell you which category actually applies.

Frequently Asked Questions About Renting in Folly Beach

What is the average rent in Folly Beach, SC?: Folly Beach has no purpose-built apartment community with its own published pricing. Long-term rentals here run through vacation-rental agencies that also handle short-term bookings -- Carolina One Vacation Rentals lists Folly Beach properties such as a 3-bedroom townhome (20 Turtle Bay) and a 4-bedroom home (45 Lempesis) as available for 30-day-or-longer stays, but does not publish a monthly rate for either, directing inquiries to a phone line instead. Rent.com's own Folly-Beach-scoped search separately reports a $10,296/month average across its listed rentals -- a figure almost certainly skewed by the large multi-bedroom beach houses that dominate available inventory rather than a typical unit, and not treated here as a reliable benchmark.
Why has Folly Beach's population declined even though it remains a popular beach destination?: Folly Beach's Census-reported population fell from 2,617 in 2010 to 2,078 in 2020, a 20.6% drop. Over roughly the same period, its short-term rental market expanded sharply: licensed units grew from 329 in 2015 to 1,196 by 2022, according to figures the city's own short-term rental committee compiled, reaching nearly half of the city's roughly 2,391 housing units before voters capped new licenses at 800 in a February 2023 referendum. The Census Bureau separately reports 55.8% of Folly Beach's housing units as vacant and a 12.9% rental vacancy rate -- both consistent with a large share of the housing stock functioning as non-primary-residence vacation property rather than year-round housing. Full causal attribution can't be established from public data alone, but the scale and timing of the two trends line up closely enough that short-term-rental conversion is the most plausible driver identified for this guide, not a confirmed single cause.
Does Folly Beach cap short-term vacation rentals?: Yes. Folly Beach voters approved a citywide cap of 800 short-term rental licenses in a February 2023 referendum, set at what the city's own short-term rental committee identified as the highest number of licenses ever recorded, using five years of historical data through 2021. The cap has stayed at capacity since adoption, with existing license holders able to renew but new licenses issued only as existing ones lapse; a 2024 ordinance change also requires a property to be rented at least 28 days in a calendar year to keep an active license, and licenses cannot be transferred between owners. By comparison, neighboring Charleston, Sullivan's Island, and Myrtle Beach ban whole-house short-term rentals in residential zones outright, Mount Pleasant limits them to 1% of housing, and Kiawah Island allows up to 20% -- Folly Beach's roughly one-third cap sits well above each of those.
Does Folly Beach have local tenant protections beyond South Carolina law?: No local ordinance identified for this guide adds tenant-facing protections -- habitability, notice periods, deposit handling -- beyond South Carolina's statewide baseline for a standard annual lease. Folly Beach's own Code of Ordinances is built almost entirely around regulating short-term rentals (business licensing, occupancy, life-safety, and the 800-unit cap) rather than long-term tenancies; a Long-Term Rental (LTR) license exists for properties rented 30 days or more, but it functions as a landlord business-license category, not an expansion of tenant rights. No local rent control exists; South Carolina Code §27-39-60 bars any city or county from regulating rent on privately owned residential property.
Is a Folly Beach lease negotiable?: Since Folly Beach has no corporate apartment community with a standardized lease, terms for any confirmed long-term rental would be set by an individual homeowner or their rental agency rather than a leasing office, so they likely vary property to property. Commonly negotiated in this kind of small, owner-by-owner market: the exact lease start/end date and length, since the agencies serving Folly Beach primarily advertise 30-day-minimum stays rather than a fixed annual term, along with pet policies and whether the unit is furnished or unfurnished.

Renting in Folly Beach? Here's What You Need to Know Before You Sign