Florida might get all the headlines, but there’s another Southern state quietly stealing the spotlight — and saving residents thousands of dollars in the process.
For the sixth consecutive year, South Carolina has claimed the top spot as America’s most popular moving destination, and the financial incentives are hard to ignore.
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According to moveBuddha’s 2025 report, which analyzed relocation data from 2020 through October 2025, South Carolina shows about double the interest in moves into the state compared to moves out, with a 1.97 in-to-out ratio.
The Palmetto State also captured 13.7% of net move-related searches, landing it among the five states with the highest moving volume (1).
The financial appeal
What makes South Carolina so attractive isn’t just the coastline and mild weather but what you’ll keep in your bank account. Compared to the rest of the country, it costs about 9% less to live in the state, according to RentCafe data from September 2025 (2)…