10 Best Small Towns to Retire in the Carolinas in 2026

The best small towns to retire in the Carolinas share three things: low taxes, mild winters, and a downtown you can cross in ten minutes.

Southport and Brevard lead the North Carolina side.

Beaufort and Camden anchor the South Carolina side.

Neither Carolina taxes your Social Security, and a fixed income stretches further here than it does up north.

These are the 10 best small towns to retire in the Carolinas in 2026.

Note: This is general information, not financial or tax advice.

1. Southport, North Carolina

Southport sits where the Cape Fear River spills into the Atlantic, and fewer than 4,000 people live there.

Retirees come for the front-porch pace and the shrimp boats.

Live oaks lean over the streets, and a golf cart handles most errands.

You can catch the ferry to Bald Head Island or walk the waterfront where Nicholas Sparks filmed “Safe Haven.”

The catch in Southport is flood insurance, so price it before you fall for the view.

2. Brevard, North Carolina

Brevard calls itself the Land of Waterfalls, and Transylvania County backs it up with more than 250 of them.

Roughly 7,700 people share the town with the white squirrels Brevard is famous for.

DuPont State Forest and Pisgah sit at the edge of town for hikers who still have the knees for it.

Summer nights bring the Brevard Music Center, where retirees fill the lawn with camp chairs.

Mountain elevation keeps Brevard cooler than the coast in July, and that alone sells a lot of houses.

3. Pinehurst, North Carolina

Pinehurst is a village of about 17,600 built around golf and not much else.

The Sandhills sit far enough inland to dodge hurricanes and far enough south to skip hard winters.

Pinehurst No. 2 hosted the 2024 U.S. Open, and the course returns to the rotation for years to come.

You don’t have to play to fit in.

The walkable village center runs on golf carts, garden clubs, and a pace that suits a slower knee.

4. Black Mountain, North Carolina

Black Mountain sits 15 miles east of Asheville with about 8,400 residents and a Main Street built for browsing.

Potters, weavers, and painters fill the storefronts, so the arts scene feels bigger than the town.

Retirees rock away afternoons on the oversized chairs outside the shops and circle Lake Tomahawk on the flat loop.

Asheville’s hospitals and airport sit a short drive west when you need the bigger city.

Black Mountain gives you the Blue Ridge without Asheville’s price tag or parking headache.

5. Waynesville, North Carolina

Waynesville is the largest town in North Carolina west of Asheville, and it still holds only about 10,000 people.

The town tucks between the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains, so two national treasures sit at your back door.

Main Street runs long and brick-lined, with galleries and a bookstore instead of a strip of chains.

Elk graze the Cataloochee valley an hour off, and the Blue Ridge Parkway starts almost at the town limit.

Waynesville trades summer heat for cool mountain evenings, and retirees keep a sweater handy in July.

6. Beaufort, South Carolina

Beaufort is the Lowcountry postcard, all Spanish moss, antebellum homes, and marsh views over about 13,600 people.

Say it "BEW-fort" here, not the way you say Beaufort up in North Carolina.

It's the second-oldest city in South Carolina, so the historic district reads like a film set.

Hunting Island's beach and a working shrimp fleet keep dinner close and the seafood fresh.

Summer humidity is the trade-off, and Beaufort collects plenty of it off the water.

7. Georgetown, South Carolina

Georgetown sits on Winyah Bay halfway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, with about 8,400 residents.

The Harborwalk runs behind Front Street, so lunch comes with a view of the shrimp boats.

As the third-oldest city in South Carolina, Georgetown wears its rice-trade history in every brick.

You get the coastal charm of Charleston at a fraction of Charleston's home prices.

Georgetown keeps a paper mill on the edge of town, so drive through before you sign anything.

8. Travelers Rest, South Carolina

Travelers Rest holds close to 9,000 people and sits at the top of the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

The paved trail runs more than 20 miles down to Greenville, flat enough for a daily walk or an easy bike.

Breweries and farm-to-table spots have filled the little downtown, so retirees eat well without leaving town.

Greenville's hospitals and airport sit 15 minutes south when the Upstate foothills aren't enough.

Travelers Rest keeps growing fast, so buy before the rest of the Upstate catches on.

9. Walhalla, South Carolina

Walhalla holds about 4,000 people in the Blue Ridge foothills of Oconee County, and German settlers named it after Valhalla.

Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls sit minutes from Main Street for an afternoon that costs nothing.

Lakes Jocassee and Keowee spread out nearby, some of the clearest water in the Southeast.

Home prices here run lower than almost anywhere else on this list.

Walhalla trades restaurants and traffic for mountain air and elbow room, and retirees on a tight budget take that deal.

10. Camden, South Carolina

Camden is the oldest inland city in South Carolina, settled in the 1730s, and home to roughly 7,800 people.

Horses run the show here.

The Carolina Cup steeplechase and the National Steeplechase Museum put Camden on the map for the horse crowd.

Revolutionary War history and a leafy historic district fill the rest of the calendar.

Camden sits in the Midlands, so retirees who want low prices and a short drive to Columbia land here.

How the Carolinas Tax Retirees

Both states leave your Social Security alone, which is where the retirement math starts.

North Carolina charges a flat 3.99% rate on the income it does tax, down again for 2026.

The state pays no tax on Social Security, but your 401(k) and pension withdrawals meet that flat rate.

Military retirement pay and certain government pensions escape North Carolina tax entirely under the Bailey settlement.

South Carolina runs a graduated tax topping out at 6%, but it hands retirees two big breaks at 65.

You can deduct up to $10,000 of retirement income plus a separate $15,000 age deduction against any income.

South Carolina exempts military retirement pay in full too, one reason so many retirees are choosing South Carolina over Florida.

What It Costs to Retire in the Carolinas

Both Carolinas run below the national average for cost of living, and South Carolina edges out its neighbor.

The bigger savings for retirees comes from property tax.

North Carolina's homestead exclusion knocks the greater of $25,000 or half the taxable value off your home once you turn 65 and fall under the income limit.

South Carolina goes further and exempts the first $50,000 of a home's value for owners 65 and up, no income test.

Housing is where the biggest gap shows up between towns.

Walhalla and Camden sit at the low end, while Pinehurst and coastal Beaufort ask a premium, and the sticker price is only the start of the hidden costs that blindside North Carolina retirees.

FAQ

A few questions come up again and again before retirees pick a Carolina town.

Is North Carolina or South Carolina better for retirement?

It depends on your priorities.

North Carolina offers cooler mountain towns and a simple flat tax, while South Carolina runs cheaper overall and gives bigger deductions to retirees at 65.

Do the Carolinas tax Social Security?

No.

Neither North Carolina nor South Carolina taxes Social Security benefits, though the federal government still might tax part of yours.

What is the cheapest small town to retire in the Carolinas?

Walhalla, South Carolina, sits at the low end for home prices among the towns here.

Camden, South Carolina, and the North Carolina mountain towns away from the coast also keep costs down.

What is the best small beach town to retire in the Carolinas?

Southport, North Carolina, and Beaufort, South Carolina, top the coastal picks.

Both put you on the water in a walkable historic town, though flood insurance adds to the cost near the coast.