Moving from Virginia
to Myrtle Beach.

The short answer

Virginia and South Carolina, side by side

Each line is explained below. Rates are the 2026 tax year unless the line says otherwise.

Virginia figures from the Virginia Department of Taxation. Property figures are the most recent federal survey data. The calculator on our cost of living page runs the full comparison against your income.

Side by side

What Virginia taxes you now, and what South Carolina would

It opens on a real example. Change any line to your own numbers and press Calculate. It estimates the income tax, the local income tax where your town charges one, and the property tax on both ends, and the difference in home price. Estimates, not facts. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

An estimate, not a fact. Rates, brackets and retirement rules come from each state's own department of revenue and statutes for 2026, and the Myrtle Beach property tax uses Horry County's 2026 certified millage for an owner-occupied home outside the city limits, with the 4 percent residential ratio, the school operating exemption and the 65 and older homestead exemption. Left out on both sides: federal tax, car taxes, insurance, and any credit that depends on your own return. Where a state rule is too detailed to model we leave it out, and almost every one of those left out would RAISE the bill in the state you are leaving, not lower it: Connecticut's tax recapture, New York's supplemental tax, and the exemption phase-outs in Maryland and Ohio. Three would LOWER it, and we name them: Pennsylvania's tax forgiveness and the Massachusetts senior circuit breaker are low-income credits we do not apply, and Florida caps how fast a homesteaded home's assessed value can rise, so a long-held Florida home's real bill is below our estimate. If one of those is you, your bill in the state you are leaving is lower than we show. Insurance is a separate cost to check on this coast, usually higher here than in the states up north; coming from coastal Florida it is priced address by address, in both directions. The coastal insurance page has the real numbers. Your accountant gives you the final answer, and we will sit down and go through it with you.

What the sale buys

What a Virginia sale buys at the coast

A typical Virginia home costs about $418,000 on the statewide Zillow average, against about $342,000 here, on the same July 2026 measure. That statewide number hides the split that matters: Northern Virginia sits far above it and much of the rest of the state below it. See how much further every dollar goes here compared with your hometown on the cost of living calculator. The property tax on whatever you buy drops from a $2,872 median bill to a $1,337 one.

Two parts of the map speak Virginia's language. Market Common is built on the old Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, and the street grid and parade ground still carry its history, with the airport next door. The beach towns run from North Myrtle Beach to Pawleys Island, each at a different price, and appeal to different types of people. Check the town by town page to see what differs.

Retirees

Deductions here come with no income test

Social Security is untaxed in both states, so start from level ground. The difference is what each state does with the rest of retirement income, and Virginia's headline number has a condition that surprises people who have never run it.

Virginia's age deduction is up to $12,000 at 65 and over. It then shrinks a dollar for every dollar that adjusted federal AGI exceeds $50,000 for a single filer or $75,000 for a married couple, and it is gone entirely at $62,000 and $99,000. A couple drawing a pension and two Social Security checks crosses those lines quickly. Pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals are otherwise fully taxed at Virginia's rates.

South Carolina's retirement and age-65 deductions have no income test: up to $3,000 of retirement income before 65, and from 65 up to $15,000 per person against any income, with the retirement deduction counted inside it. The numbers are smaller than Virginia's $12,000; the difference is that you keep them no matter what you earn.

Military retirement is its own line. Virginia lets you subtract up to $40,000 of military benefits on 2025 and later returns, with no age requirement, which is generous. South Carolina exempts every dollar of military retirement pay, at any age, with no cap. Below $40,000 of military pension the states match; above it, this is the only one of the two that never taxes it. The VA loan page covers the buying side for veterans.

The income tax

More of your income is never taxed here

Virginia's top rate of 5.75 percent begins at just $17,000 of taxable income, so nearly everyone with a working income pays it on most of their dollars. South Carolina charges 1.99 percent on the first $30,000 and 5.21 percent above it.

The bigger difference is what gets taxed at all. South Carolina's deduction is up to $15,000 single and $30,000 joint, against Virginia's $8,750 and $17,500. South Carolina's shrinks as income rises. It is larger than Virginia's up to about $63,000 of income single and $126,000 joint, and smaller above that. This is a modest cut, not a New York one, and we would rather tell you that plainly. Where the move pays for itself is the property tax and the house price.

The familiar one

The car tax will not surprise you

Every other state page we have written warns the mover about South Carolina's annual vehicle tax, because Ohio, Maryland, New York and the rest do not bill you yearly for a car. You do not need the warning. Virginia's personal property tax on vehicles works the same way, so the only thing to learn is the local numbers.

Here every vehicle is taxed on its value each year and the county bill is paid before the plate renews. A $30,000 car is taxed about $362 a year in unincorporated Horry County, about $458 inside the City of Myrtle Beach, plus a $50 county road fee. A car titled elsewhere pays a one-time $250 fee at first registration, and you have 45 days from the move to register. Boats and campers are taxed the same way.

The order of operations matters here: insurance first, county tax second, DMV third. The new resident checklist walks it step by step with the deadlines.

The rest of the bill

Property tax drops by more than half

Property tax

Virginia averages about 0.78 percent effective statewide with a median bill of $2,872. South Carolina averages about 0.49 percent, and Horry County about 0.38 percent on a primary home, where the primary rate also removes the school operating tax. The median bill here is $1,337. You apply for the primary rate yourself, and the property tax page has the calculator and the deadline.

Sales tax

Virginia charges 5.3 percent in most places. Here it is 8 percent in the county and 9 percent inside the City of Myrtle Beach, and we would rather be honest with you about that: on most purchases the tax is higher. Groceries are the exception: untaxed in Horry County, and everyday goods price lower here than in Virginia on the federal price index, so the grocery run itself usually costs less.

First hand

What our Virginia clients tell us

One of our buyers came down from Virginia Beach, and his comparison stuck with us because it was fair in both directions. Virginia Beach is a much bigger city than Myrtle Beach, and he would tell you its entertainment scene runs many times the size of ours. Nobody should move here expecting a bigger boardwalk than the one they left.

What our Virginia clients say they come for instead: a smaller place that is growing quickly, where the money they bring goes further and getting ahead does not require a Northern Virginia income. Most of them leave with real respect for Virginia and the military and government careers it gave them, and they want more of the year outdoors than Virginia weather allows.

Nobody here parties like Miami, one client put it, but people here are enjoying their money. That is as fair a one-line summary of the Grand Strand as we have heard, and the pros and cons page carries the rest of the honest picture, including the parts people leave over.

Common questions

Virginia to Myrtle Beach FAQ

Sources: Virginia Tax military benefits FAQ, Virginia Code 58.1-322.03, Virginia Tax on retirement income, South Carolina 2026 income tax, Tax Foundation property taxes, Zillow research data. We are not tax advisers; rates change and your situation decides the answer. Verify with a professional before you plan around any of it.