Beaufort, South Carolina, Financial Overview

Beaufort Real Estate Owners Benefit From Rich Economy

Beaufort SC is a sun and sea economy. It was the deep waters of Port Royal Sound and the cooling breezes that brought early settlers to Beaufort, South Carolina. The bountiful waters and land of Beaufort sustained them and helped them to prosper.

A retirement, military and tourist community, the median household income is $50,522, an increase of more than $2,000 over the U.S. average. Unemployment is at 4.0 percent of the civilian labor force.

Census figures show that Beaufort’s labor force employs 69,482 workers over the age of 16. Occupations by category are:

• Management and Professional 30.5%
• Sales and office 27%
• Service 23%
• Construction and Maintenance 13.5%
• Production and transportation 5%
• Agriculture, fishing .1%

The largest civilian industry sectors were education, health and social services, 16%, and arts, entertainment, recreation, food and accommodations, 15.4%. Construction and retail trade made up 12.5% of Beaufort’s industry.

Health care is a growing sector in Beaufort SC and uniquely progressive for a community the size of Beaufort. Every one of the one hundred physicians accredited to practice at Beaufort Memorial Hospital is board certified in at least one specialty, and the number of physicians has doubled over the past ten years. An innovative partnership with Duke University Medical Center gives Beaufort Memorial Hospital an edge in developing regional cancer and heart centers. It means that Beaufort area physicians and patients have access to Duke’s expertise, clinical trials and consulting physicians.

A successful community campaign among Beaufort locals raised $10 million to help pay for new Beaufort SC cancer and heart centers, which added radiation therapy and a catherization lab to Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s capabilities.

Another Beaufort hospital is the Naval Hospital Beaufort, which serves the military – both active and retired – and their families. Naval Hospital Beaufort recently ranked No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all Naval Hospitals serving the Marine Corps bases. With extensive outpatient services, it is one of the reasons retired military personnel choose to move to Beaufort.

A 2001 study by Georgia Southern University estimated the annual economic impact of the Air Station, the Parris Island recruit training depot and Naval Hospital at $390 million. Additionally, servicemen and women donate manpower and many hours to community projects within the Beaufort SC area.

Military and civilian home purchases in Beaufort experienced a 20.19% increase from 2002 to 2003, with a median sales price of $172,000 in 2003. That median represented a 16.61% increase in Beaufort real estate over the previous year.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Important to Beaufort SC
Seafood contributes $10 – $12 million to the local economy of Beaufort, South Carolina. Shrimpers supply brown and white shrimp to three local Beaufort seafood houses, to roadside peddlers and to Georgia “packers, breaders and fryers” who prepare the shrimp for northern restaurants. Blue crabs are exported to Maryland, and clam aquaculture is in the early stages of development. Most of the oyster catch is consumed locally.

In late June, nearly half of all the tomatoes consumed in the eastern U.S. come from Beaufort County. Truck farmers, mostly located on St. Helena and along Highway 21 north of Beaufort, send $20 – $25 million worth of produce as far north as Canada to be packaged and delivered to the grocery store shelves.

Although the number of tomato-packing houses in Beaufort County has shrunk from 25 to two, greater Beaufort SC continues to meet a substantial share of the hamburger and salad needs of the East Coast during the month of June. That amounts to 18,000 – 22,000 tons of tomatoes that are trucked out of Beaufort, South Carolina, all in a four-week period.

Beaufort also exports watermelons, peppers, squash and cantaloupe, plus some pigs and cows. Fresh local produce, including collards, okra, corn, butter beans, squash and strawberries, are available in season at vegetable stands and markets along Highway 21 north and south of Beaufort. In spring and early summer, Beaufort area farmers bring fresh produce to a Farmers’ Market at Waterfront Park on Wednesdays in the late afternoon and on Saturday mornings.

Of the three seaports in South Carolina, Port Royal is the smallest with 565 feet of marginal wharf and two, 75,000 sq. ft. warehouses. Port Royal also has 12 acres of open storage and a depth at mean low tide of 27 feet. The Port Authority has ruled out berthing, gambling or cruise ships at the port because of the traffic they would create. A proposal for a dry-boat storage facility for pleasure craft has been accepted. Another idea in the discussion stage is a mega yacht facility.

Movie producers are attracted to the scenery and climate of Beaufort. To date, some 20 movies have been partially filmed in the Beaufort area. The most famous was “Forrest Gump,” which filmed scenes from Fripp to Yemassee to the Port at Port Royal, where the hurricane was staged. Among other movies with Beaufort as a background are “Prince of Tides,” “The Big Chill,” “Bagger Vance” and “GI Jane.”

Acclamations have been bestowed upon Beaufort in a variety of manners. Five local Beaufort golf courses were named ‘The Fab 50 Golf Communities’ by Retirement Lifestyles in the Carolinas in 2005. Fortune Magazine named Beaufort one of the ‘Top 5 Retirement Towns’ in July 2004, and MSN Money donned the community one of the ‘Top 10 Places to Buy a Second Home’ in June 2004. Where to Retire magazine named it one of the ‘8 Great Low Tax Towns’ in January 2004 and EscapeHomes.com saw Beaufort as a ‘Top 10 Towns for Second Home Investment’.

In recent years, Beaufort, South Carolina, has undertaken extensive renovations and refurbishing of the downtown Beaufort area and the historic district. Now, improvements are under way in outlying areas and along the approaches to downtown. The Beaufort Town Center is adjacent to Beaufort City and County Government Center. The center contains over 300,000 sq. ft. of retail and office space, in addition to more than 250 hotel rooms. The center combines office, hotel, retail, restaurant and residential properties, all nestled in a landscape that includes live oaks, marshes and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Both the public sector and private business interests are looking for opportunities to encourage economic diversity in the Beaufort, South Carolina area, with an emphasis on planned growth. The Greater Beaufort-Hilton Head Economic Development Partnership encourages the expansion of targeted existing businesses and works to attract new Beaufort businesses in specific sectors such as knowledge-based businesses, health care and medical related businesses, corporate headquarters, higher education, and communications, including telecommunications, film and studio production.

The aim of both the private and public sectors of Beaufort is to encourage structured growth that improves the quality of life for all residents and owners of Beaufort real estate while protecting the unique environment of Beaufort, South Carolina. //