Hilton Head Island Area Information

Hilton Head, South Carolina, is a 42.06-square-mile Beaufort County island on the east coast of the United States. In the 2000 census, the total estimated population was measured at approximately 33,860; but the official town of Hilton Head stretches a bit short of the island itself, excluding a small parcel of land down the William Hilton Parkway (an extension of Highway 278 leading to the island from the mainland). Thus, the actual island's population was measured at 34,407 in the 2000 census, with a slight increase in land area of .59 square miles.  The population at end of 2023 was 38,069.

Hilton Head is surrounded by 12 miles of Atlantic beach, creating a popular vacation atmosphere frequented by everyone from middle-class America to high-end Fortune 500's. The main attraction, aside from its obvious beach orientation, is the collection of numerous on-island and nearby off-island, world-class golf courses. Hilton Head hosts a number of tournaments annually including the Heritage Classic played on Harbour Town's Golf Links course in Sea Pines Resort.

Hilton Head Neighborhoods

Hilton Head Island is conveniently near two airports: the Savannah-Hilton Head International in Savannah, GA, and the Hilton Head Airport (located directly on the island). The town is 45 miles north of Savannah and approximately 95 miles south of Charleston, SC. The idyllic locale opens the island to tourists as well as an increasing population of locals, migrating from northern states such as Ohio and New Jersey. The U.S Census Bureau has classified the 159,250-resident town (population updated in 2005) part of the "Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan Area," including both Beaufort and Jasper counties. This 'micropolitan' term was designated to the Hilton Head area after the census, which found Hilton Head to be 64% urban and 36% rural and also included the urban clusters of Beaufort (population 46,128), nearby Bluffton (5,848), and further out Ridgeland (3,616). 

Hilton Head Geography

Hilton Head Island's geographic location is 32°10'44N, 80°44'35W (32.178828, -80.742947), and is the second-largest of the Atlantic Ocean's Barrier Islands. Only Long Island, New York, tops Hilton Head's land area. The total size in square miles measured by the U.S. Census Bureau is 55.5, including 42.1 mi² of land and the other 24.28% (13.5 mi²) of water.