This ‘attractive place to live’ on the MS Coast ranked most affordable beach town in U.S.

Realtor.com just clued the country on how to save at least $70,000 on a vacation home and the answer’s in your own backyard.

On its annual list of the most affordable beach towns, Realtor.com ranked Pascagoula as the best of the best.

“It’s located off of two major waterways: the Gulf of Mexico and the Pascagoula River and offers a lot of fun outdoor activities from fishing off the pier, to kayaking in its unimpeded river system, to an annual summer music festival,” said Keith Griffith, a journalist for Realtor.com. “Pascagoula is also home to Chevron’s largest refinery and Ingalls Shipbuilding, which is Mississippi’s largest manufacturing employer, indicating the great mix between work and play that makes the beach town an attractive place to live.”

With a median list price of around $164,900, homes in Pascagoula were $70,000 below the median asking price of its nearest competitor, Atlantic City, New Jersey. The east coast beach town’s median home price was listed at $239,000.

Of the top 10 most affordable beach towns, six were located in the South.

Methodology

To compile the ranking, researchers started with a federal list of beaches and coastal towns, then determined the median price for single-family homes listed for sale last March. To be ranked, the cities had to have at least 25 homes up for sale that month and had to have public access to a sandy beach within city limits.

Each state could have only one entry. Pascagoula happened to have Mississippi’s least expensive median listing price for the month of March.

The most affordable beach towns in America include:

1. Pascagoula, Mississippi - Median List Price*: $164,900

2. Atlantic City, New Jersey - Median List Price*: $239,000

3. Deerfield Beach, Florida - Median List Price*: $239,950

4. Dennis Port, Massachusetts - Median List Price*: $277,500

5. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - Median List Price*: $299,500

6. Corpus Christi, Texas - Median List Price*: $315,000

7. Sunset Beach, North Carolina - Median List Price*: $340,000

8. Grand Isle, Louisiana - Median List Price*: $375,000

9. Newport, Oregon - Median List Price*: $399,950

10. Ocean Shores, Washington - Median List Price*: $425,000

* Based on data as of March 2024

Mona Moore

Sun Herald

Mona Moore was a Service Journalism Desk Editor for the Sun Herald in Mississippi; Mahoning Matters in Ohio; and the Ledger-Enquirer and Telegraph in Georgia. Originally from West Covina, California, she holds a bachelor’s and master’s in corporate and public communication from the University of South Alabama. Mona’s writing and photography have been recognized by press associations in Mississippi, North Carolina and Florida.