How many Hilton Head town employees live on the island? Here’s a hint: the majority don’t

Mary Dimitrov
Drew Martin/dmartin@islandpacket.com

Most Town of Hilton Head Island employees don’t live where they work.

Of the Town of Hilton Head’s 293 employees, 37% or 108 live on the island as of March, according to fiscal year 2025 town documents. This is one percent more than last fiscal year, and barely goes against Hilton Head’s growing trend of people who work on the island, but don’t live there.

While each town council member must be elected from their respective ward, Hilton Head doesn’t have residency requirements for town staff. Based on property records, at least two of the town’s six-person executive team don’t live on the island: Assistant Town Manager Shawn Colin and Deputy Town Manager Josh Gruber. For fiscal year 2024, the town reported having 301 employees, a a 6.7% increase since 2020.

Fire rescue has the lowest percentage of employees living on the island, and finance positions have the highest percentage of employees living on the island. Here is the breakdown by job type, ranked by lowest percentage of employees who live on the island to highest:

Fire Rescue Department

42 of 153 employees live on the island, or 27%

Within the department, the town broke down numbers for line, dispatch and administration. They are

  • Line; 23 or 110 employees live on the island or 21%

  • Dispatch; 5 of 13 employees live on the island or 38%

  • Administration; 14 of 30 employees live on the island or 47%

Line workers are responsible for running the fire trucks. They are cross-trained in both firefighting and EMS. Dispatch workers answer calls in the island’s communications center.

Community Development

31 of 69 employees live on the island or 45%

Administration/Finance

22 of 47 employees live on the island or 47%

Finance

13 of 24 employees live on the island or 54%

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