Property tax is the line that starts most of these conversations, so here is the whole corridor in one table. Effective rates on owner-occupied housing per the Tax Foundation’s 2026 edition; bills are typical annual figures on a median-priced home in each state.
Origin state
Effective rate
Typical annual bill
Horry County, SC (primary residence)
same
same
same
same
same
Horry County assesses a primary residence at a 4 percent ratio and exempts it from school operating millage, which lands the effective rate near 0.33 percent, the lowest in South Carolina. The mechanics are in the South Carolina tax advantages guide. Now, state by state.
New Jersey’s effective property tax rate is about 2.11%, the highest in the nation, with a median bill near $9,590. Its income tax tops out at an effective 10.75% on high incomes. New Jersey repealed its estate tax in 2018, but it retains an inheritance tax of up to 16% on property passing to non-lineal heirs such as nieces, nephews, and friends, a tax South Carolina does not levy. For a New Jersey household, the property-tax swing alone toward Horry County’s roughly 0.33% primary-residence rate can run well into five figures a year.
New York’s effective property tax rate runs about 1.55%, and its income tax reaches 9.65% on income over $1 million, with New York City residents facing an additional local income tax. On estates, New York taxes above an exemption of roughly $7.35 million for 2026 and applies an “estate tax cliff“: an estate that exceeds the exemption by more than 5% can be taxed on its entire value, not just the amount above the threshold. New York is also among the most aggressive states in auditing claimed changes of residency, discussed below. South Carolina, by contrast, has no estate tax and a far lower income and property tax burden.
Pennsylvania levies a flat state income tax of 3.07%, plus local earned income taxes that add 1 to 2 percent in most municipalities. Its effective property tax rate is about 1.30% statewide, and in the school districts that dominate the bill it runs higher: Lehigh Valley households commonly pay $4,500 to $7,000 a year, driven by school millage. Pennsylvania also imposes an inheritance tax at rates that vary by relationship to the decedent, which South Carolina does not.
One honest nuance for retirees: Pennsylvania does not tax retirement income at all, so the relocation case from PA leans on property taxes, winters, and housing value rather than income tax. The full Pennsylvania case, including the Lehigh Valley specifically, is in the Lehigh Valley relocation guide.
The effective property tax rate is about 1.00%, held down by Proposition 2½’s levy caps, but the statewide median sale price near $668,000 (and Boston’s near $852,000) means the typical bill still lands around $6,900 a year. The income tax is a flat 5%, plus a 4% surtax on taxable income above roughly $1.1 million (indexed annually), bringing the top rate to 9%. On retirement income, Massachusetts exempts Social Security and government pensions but taxes private pensions and 401(k)/IRA withdrawals at the full 5%.
The sharpest edge is the estate tax: Massachusetts taxes estates above $2 million, at rates up to 16%, and the threshold is not indexed for inflation. Around Boston, decades of home appreciation alone can push an ordinary household over it. South Carolina has no estate tax at any size, taxes retirement income only above meaningful deductions, and cuts the property bill by roughly $5,000 a year on comparable value.
Retirement treatment carries a trap worth knowing: Connecticut’s exemptions for Social Security, pensions, and (as of 2026) IRA and 401(k) distributions apply only below income limits of $75,000 single and $100,000 joint, and the limits behave like a cliff. One large IRA withdrawal in a single year can blow past the threshold and expose income that was exempt the year before. Connecticut also remains the only state in the country with a gift tax, alongside its estate tax (both now at the federal-level $15 million exemption, flat 12% above).
And then there is the car tax, the annual personal property tax on vehicles that NoVa residents plan their lives around: $4.57 per $100 of value in Fairfax County, $5.00 in Arlington and Alexandria, billed on each vehicle’s assessed value every year, with state relief that covers a shrinking share. Fairness requires saying that South Carolina also levies an annual vehicle property tax, so the car-tax line shrinks rather than disappears in this move. The property-tax gap is real but narrower than from New Jersey or Connecticut; for Northern Virginians, the move is at least as much about the housing swap, swapping Fairfax’s $750,000 median for the Grand Strand’s coast, as the tax stack. Virginia has no estate tax, matching South Carolina.
Changing your residence (where you live) is not automatically the same as changing your domicile (your true, permanent home for tax purposes). High-tax states, New York foremost among them, audit claimed changes of domicile and will look at where you spend your days, where your “near and dear” possessions are, where your primary home is, family connections, and business ties. Connecticut and Massachusetts run the same playbook. If you keep a home, spend significant time, or maintain strong ties in a high-tax origin state, that state may contest your claim that you have left for tax purposes, and the burden can fall on you to prove the change.
Origin state aside, the right Grand Strand submarket tracks your stage of life. Relocating families with school-age children most often land inland in Carolina Forest, while couples and active-retirement buyers gravitate to amenity communities like Grande Dunes. The full sequencing of a Northeast move, from off-season visits to closing, is in the Northeast relocation guide.
Phil has guided buyers from NJ, NY, and PA through every step off-season tours, tax-advisor coordination, and finding the right submarket.
