For a homeowner leaving Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton, the Grand Strand move usually comes down to three numbers: a property tax bill that drops 70 to 80 percent, a winter with maybe a half inch of inland snow instead of twenty-nine, and a nonstop flight from ABE and AVP that has you back in the Valley in an hour and thirty minutes. This guide covers the money, the logistics, and where Lehigh Valley transplants actually land. Phil knows both ends of this move personally; growing up and graduating from Parkland and now calling Myrtle Beach home.
The Lehigh Valley had a strong run. The regional median sale price hit $350,000 in 2025, a record year in which the average home sold for 100.8 percent of asking, per the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS annual report. That strength is exactly what makes the move work: Valley homeowners are sitting on more equity than at any point in memory, and the Grand Strand is one of the places where that equity goes furthest. Cash-flow also matters and people who move experience ~15% savings on cost of living: fuel, utilities, food, and services.
They are not moving alone. The Myrtle Beach metro grew 3.2 percent in a single year through mid-2025, among the fastest rates in the country per the Census Bureau, and United Van Lines has had South Carolina in its top inbound states for six straight years. Pennsylvania is consistently among the top states sending people here. When you tour a Grand Strand community, expect to hear a familiar accent or two; Eagles and Penn State flags are everywhere.
The weather does its own selling. Allentown averages around 29 inches of snow a year with January highs in the mid-30s. Myrtle Beach averages less than an inch, with January afternoons typically in the mid-50s. Golf here is a twelve-month sport, which matters if you have spent Novembers watching your clubs gather dust.
Two honest caveats. First, the 4 percent ratio applies to your primary residence and you have to file for it; vacation and part-time homes are assessed at the normal rate without the school exemption, which can put the bill near the Pennsylvania number you left. Second, at 65 years old, South Carolina adds a fabulous Homestead Exemption on the first $50,000 of value. Both are covered in detail in the South Carolina tax advantages guide.
If you are still working, the comparison is closer than you would think. Pennsylvania’s flat 3.07 percent looks low, but the local earned income tax stacks on top: a Bethlehem resident pays another 1 percent, and an Allentown School District resident pays 1.975 percent, putting the real rate near 5 percent. South Carolina restructured its income tax in March 2026 to two brackets, 1.99 percent on the first $30,000 and 5.21 percent above it, with no local income taxes and further automatic cuts scheduled as revenue targets are met. For most working households the move is roughly a wash, tilting slightly toward South Carolina as the new rates phase down.
HOWEVER, if you are self employed or a business owner, the State of South Carolina offers a powerful 3% flat tax election on Active Trade or Business Income. For self-employed individuals with significant profits, this mechanism provides a massive discount compared to standard state income tax brackets.
If you are retired, pay attention, because this cuts the other way: Pennsylvania does not tax retirement income at all. Social Security, pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals are all exempt in PA. South Carolina never taxes Social Security, but it taxes other retirement income above a set of deductions ($10,000 retirement deduction at 65 plus, plus a $15,000 senior deduction). A retiree with a large pension can genuinely pay more state income tax in South Carolina than in Pennsylvania. HOWEVER, South Carolina allows for a 44% deduction on Capital Gains tax which Pennsylvania DOES NOT. We would rather tell you that now than have your CPA tell you later.
Sell at the Valley’s $350,000 median and you arrive in a market where the Myrtle Beach area’s single-family median ran near $390,000 in spring 2026, with condos far below that, and where 2026’s buyer-friendly inventory gives you real selection. In practice, Valley sellers land anywhere from a lock-and-leave condo with money left over to a golf-course home that had no Pennsylvania equivalent at the price. The market context is in the current market report; the honest headline is that buyers here hold the advantage right now. Cash-flow also matters and people who move experience ~15% savings on cost of living: fuel, utilities, food, and services.
Carolina Forest: the default for families making the move with kids, a master-planned inland area with its own school cluster. Think of the role the western suburbs play back home. The area is also popular for retirees looking for gated communities, larger lot sizes, and neighborhoods that maintain a family feeling.
Long Bay and the general Longs, SC area: the inland golf communities offering custom homes on a Jack Nicklaus Signature courses from the high $300s, for the golfer who kept the habit alive through 30 Pennsylvania winters. The area is further from the coast leaving homeowners comfortably far from any storms.
Grande Dunes: the gated benchmark for luxury for buyers looking for a private enclave with private beach access, a marina, members clubs and more.
Market Common: walkable urban-village living for downsizers who liked Bethlehem’s and Easton’s downtowns. Townhomes, shops, and dining. Very golf cart friendly.
Fly nonstop from your own airport. Allegiant flies ABE to MYR nonstop, about six flights a week as of mid-2026, wheels-up to wheels-down in roughly an hour and 37 minutes, with fares that regularly start under $100. No Philadelphia traffic, no connections. Breeze flights now operate direct to Wilkes Barre Airport as well!
PHL as backup. American and Frontier fly Philadelphia to Myrtle Beach nonstop, around 25 departures a week in season.
Drive it in a day. About 630 miles, roughly 10 to 10.5 hours door to door. Leave Bethlehem at seven, sleep in your own bed at the beach. Grandchildren’s birthdays, Musikfest weekend, a Lehigh-Lafayette game: all of it stays reachable without an airline.
Sit that against the 17-hour drive to Florida’s Gulf Coast and the calculus of staying connected to parents, kids, and doctors in the Valley changes completely. The broader midpoint logic is covered in the halfway between NYC and Miami guide.
Any honest relocation guide admits the move has a cost. You won’t miss Musikfest, with Myrtle Beach’s Carolina Country Music Festival! 2026 line-up included: Post Malone, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Riley Green, Cole Swindell, and Tucker Wetmore and so many more! https://carolinacountrymusicfest.com/ There is no Wegmans here yet, a wound every Pennsylvania transplant nurses; Publix and Lowes Foods carry the load. Publix subs are great and their bakery is a hidden gem. Lowes produce is the best. The hospital systems are not quite LVHN and St. Luke’s, though Grand Strand Health and McLeod cover the coast, and McLeod just completed a huge new facility in Carolina Forest. The flight home is short enough that plenty of transplants keep a Valley specialist for the big stuff, and flights to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL are short and easy every week. Many S.C. residents go to Florida especially for elevated cancer care.
Yes. Allegiant flies nonstop from Lehigh Valley International (ABE) to Myrtle Beach (MYR), about six times a week as of mid-2026, in roughly 1 hour 37 minutes. American and Frontier also fly nonstop from Philadelphia; and Breeze from Wilkes Barre.
If you are working, it is roughly a wash: PA’s 3.07 percent plus local earned income tax lands near South Carolina’s new 1.99/5.21 percent structure. If you’re self employed, South Carolina wins every time! If you are retired, Pennsylvania is actually the lower-tax state on income, EXCEPT for retirees with major capital gains income – S.C. wins there! The savings in this move come from property taxes and housing, not the income tax line.
