Ranked 208th of 387 metropolitan areas in the United States, Hilton Head Island, SC counts 227,455 residents. Below: who lives here, which trades are crowded, and where a local advertiser can gain ground.
The metropolitan statistical area covers Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and Port Royal.
The typical owner-occupied home is valued at $439,500, 32 percent above the national figure. The median household in Hilton Head Island, SC earns $83,304 a year, 3 percent above the national figure (the US median is $80,734). Read together, they frame the buying power of the market.
Age and education shape how people search and who answers the phone. 76.1% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 11 points above the US share. Unemployment 2.9%, 2 points below the US share. 43.1% of adults over 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 7 points above the US share. Median age 47.7, 8.8 years above the national median.
Hilton Head Island, SC versus South Carolina: income 20 percent higher than the South Carolina figure, home values 70 percent higher than the South Carolina figure, business density 31 percent denser than the South Carolina figure.
The establishment count for Hilton Head Island, SC is 6,925. Per 1,000 people that is 30.4, 22 percent above the national figure. The busiest category listed below is restaurants (545 establishments). Home-services trades account for 540 of them (7.8% of all establishments, 3 points above the US share).
| Trade | Establishments | Per 100,000 residents | vs US mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and other eating places | 545 | 239.6 | 1.06× |
| Landscaping services | 181 | 79.6 | 1.85× |
| Legal services | 173 | 76.1 | 1.15× |
| Physicians' offices | 156 | 68.6 | 0.86× |
| Personal care services (all) | 152 | 66.8 | 1.14× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 130 | 57.2 | 3.67× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 103 | 45.3 | 1.12× |
| Dentists | 97 | 42.6 | 0.86× |
| Beauty salons | 87 | 38.2 | 1.25× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 87 | 38.2 | 0.77× |
| Electrical contractors | 70 | 30.8 | 1.01× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 58 | 25.5 | 0.70× |
| General automotive repair | 45 | 19.8 | 0.64× |
| Automobile dealers | 42 | 18.5 | 1.08× |
| General freight trucking | 34 | 14.9 | 0.35× |
| Roofing contractors | 29 | 12.7 | 1.37× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 27 | 11.9 | 1.40× |
| Child day care services | 23 | 10.1 | 0.34× |
| Self-storage facilities | 14 | 6.2 | 0.91× |
The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).
Relative to the national mix, specialty trade contractors, landscaping services, concrete contractors and roofing contractors take up an outsized slice of the Hilton Head Island, SC business base. The sharpest example is specialty trade contractors: 130 establishments, 3.7 times the share seen nationally. Under-represented categories: child day care services, general freight trucking, general automotive repair and grocery stores. Child day care services show the largest gap, 23 locations, about 34% of what the national mix would give. Close to the national mix: plumbing and HVAC contractors, electrical contractors and automobile dealers.
Scaled to residents, restaurants run 239.6 per 100,000, more than landscaping services or legal services. Restaurants (545), landscaping services (181) and legal services (173) are the biggest categories by establishment count. Taken as groups, the strongest relative to the US mix are the home-services trades (1.6 times the national share) and the weakest are trucking, storage, real estate and road construction (about 60% of).
When specialty trade contractors, landscaping services and concrete contractors are this common, customers compare. That makes the review profile and the speed of the first reply the deciding factors, and it makes conversion tracking essential so budget flows to the searches that turn into booked work. Scarcity in child day care services, general freight trucking and general automotive repair cuts the other way: fewer rivals per search, cheaper clicks, and a chance to become the default answer in the map results with a modest, steady effort. Residents here are older than the US median (8.8 years above the national median); they search, read reviews and call, which puts the weight on search, the listing and the phone. Homeownership of 76.1% is above the national share; more of the households that search for home services are also the ones that decide and pay.
Where to start in Hilton Head Island, SC, based on the competition profile above.
A fast site with the services, the area served and a clear way to call or book.
Email automation for the customer list.
A steady flow of new reviews and a reply on every one of them.
Paid search that shows up when someone in Hilton Head Island, SC is ready to call, not just browsing.
Profile upkeep, posts, Q&A and photos on the listing customers see first.
Ranking for the service-and-town searches without paying per click.
Hilton Head Island, SC has 227,455 residents (US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimate), ranking 208th of 387 metropolitan areas.
The median household income in Hilton Head Island, SC is $83,304 (ACS 2024 5-year), above the US median of $80,734.
The Census Bureau counts 6,925 employer establishments in Hilton Head Island, SC (County Business Patterns 2023), or 30.4 businesses per 1,000 residents.
The median home value in Hilton Head Island, SC is $439,500, and 76.1% of homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2024 5-year).
Measured against the US business mix (County Business Patterns 2023), specialty trade contractors, landscaping services and concrete contractors have more establishments per resident than the US average; child day care services, general freight trucking and general automotive repair have fewer in Hilton Head Island, SC.
Bring the trade and the towns you serve; we bring the numbers and a plan.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023. Updated 2026-09-29.