Horry County, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)
Key Facts
- Allowed district
- OPI only
- Required setting
- Inside a licensed health care establishment
- Excluded pairing
- Health clubs and gymnasiums do not qualify
- Home business
- Flatly prohibited, no exceptions
- Governing sections
- Zoning Ord. Sec. 939.A and Sec. 927.C
Summary
Horry County confines tattoo parlors to the OPI office/professional/institutional zoning district, and only inside a licensed health care establishment such as a medical office or clinic. Sec. 939.A sets that location rule, while Sec. 927.C separately bars tattooing and body piercing from operating as a home occupation anywhere in the county.
Sec. 939. - Tattoo parlor. A. OPI zoning district. Must be located in a licensed health care establishment engaged in the science of preventing, curing and alleviating human disease, including medical offices and clinics, but excluding health clubs, gymnasiums and associated uses. [Sec. 1420 glossary:] Tattoo parlor. Any room or space where indelibly marking or coloring the skin by subcutaneous introduction of nontoxic dyes or pigments is performed for compensation. [Sec. 927.C prohibited home occupation uses list includes:] Tattoo & Body Piercing
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 88).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 939 of the Horry County Zoning Ordinance regulates tattoo parlors as a conditional use, and the county allows them in exactly one zoning district: OPI. Even there, a standalone tattoo studio cannot open on its own; Sec. A requires the parlor to be located in a licensed health care establishment engaged in the science of preventing, curing and alleviating human disease, including medical offices and clinics, but excluding health clubs, gymnasiums and associated uses. That wording rules out pairing a tattoo studio with a gym or fitness club even inside OPI, since the exclusion is written directly into the location standard.
The zoning ordinance's own glossary, Sec. 1420, defines what counts as a Tattoo parlor for these purposes: any room or space where indelibly marking or coloring the skin by subcutaneous introduction of nontoxic dyes or pigments is performed for compensation. Anyone working under that definition for pay, not just a business calling itself a tattoo shop, falls under Sec. 939. The county closes off the home-based route entirely. Sec. C, which lists home occupations prohibited everywhere in unincorporated Horry County regardless of lot size or zoning district, names Tattoo & Body Piercing outright, with none of the acreage-based exceptions available elsewhere in Sec.
927 extended to it. A tattoo or body-piercing business therefore has to locate in a qualifying OPI health-care setting; a home studio is never a lawful option.
Violations & Fines
Operating a tattoo or piercing business outside the OPI district, or without pairing it to a licensed health care establishment as Sec. 939.A requires, is a zoning use violation Horry County can enforce through its Certificate of Zoning Compliance process. Running one from a residence violates the flat Sec. 927.C home-occupation ban and applies regardless of lot size, acreage, or how the business is otherwise licensed with the state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a tattoo shop anywhere in unincorporated Horry County?
Can I run a tattoo business out of my home?
Does a tattoo shop count if it's attached to a gym?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Horry County
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