Best South Carolina Small Towns to Move to for Life
Small towns can be great for a visit, but they can also be the perfect landing spot to live for the long term. The best South Carolina small towns to move to for life offer the peace of living in a small town but also some of the perks of living in a bigger city. These towns are cozy and welcoming, because that’s just how small towns roll. Here are the best South Carolina small towns to move to, according to experts.
Best South Carolina Small Towns to Move to for Life
Moving to a small town is actually a trend, according to experts. In 2023, roughly 291,400 people moved from cities and suburbs into small towns and rural areas in America, states University of Virginia demographer Hamilton Lombard. If you’re wondering the definition of a small town in this study, Lombard designates it as metropolitan areas with 250,000 people or fewer. Some of this migration has to do with remote work trends. “With a third of workdays being done remotely in 2023, Americans have more geographic flexibility and have been increasingly willing to move far from large population centers if their destination offers a good quality of life,” Lombard wrote. It’s worth noting that this study only measured the moving trends of those who stayed in America, not those who relocated abroad.
One reason people like living in small towns is the sense of community. “I think we’re more aware of the importance of community,” Matt Wagner, chief program officer at Main Street America, told Realestate.usnews.com. “When we weren’t coming out of our homes in early 2020, and we weren’t connected with our neighbors and our fellow citizens, that was a big eye-opener for folks.” What’s also interesting is that the price of homes in small towns is going up, due to this trend. I actually dream of living in a small town on the river but close enough to a large metropolitan area to get there in a few minutes. I want the best of both worlds.
So, what are the best South Carolina small towns to move to for life? The experts at Moveto.com put the town of Bluffton at the top of their tally, which highlights several small towns. They mention that this town, which is part of the Lowcountry, is the final town before “crossing the bridge to Hilton Head Island and is a popular place to settle after living in the Midwest.” They also say that “most of the residents are originally from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan,” so it has a very Midwest feel. It’s a beautiful town, with cute shops, galleries and more. I’m glad people are starting to recognize Bluffton and other South Carolina towns as great places to live.