u/NeedleworkerEasy1832

My wife and I are seriously considering moving from Connecticut to the Charleston, SC area within the next year or two, and I’d love to hear from people who have made a similar move or currently live there.
I’m 26 and work in municipal wastewater, and my wife is a pediatric med-surg RN.
Right now, because of my rotating work schedule, my wife only works part-time. If we moved to South Carolina, she’d be going back to full-time.
Financially, here’s what we’re looking at:
Current (Connecticut)
Me: ~$42/hour
Wife: ~$52/hour (part-time)
Combined household income: around $150k-$160k/year.
Potential move to South Carolina
Me: around $32/hour
Wife: around $40/hour (full-time)
Combined household income: roughly $145k-$155k/year before overtime.
So while I’d be taking a pay cut for the first couple years, our overall household income would end up being pretty similar because she’d be working full-time again.
One thing that’s making this decision difficult is retirement.
The jobs we’re looking at participate in the South Carolina Retirement System, which is a defined-benefit pension. From everything I’ve read:
Employees contribute about 9% of their pay.
Employers contribute over 20% toward the retirement system.
The pension is based on your years of service and salary and pays a guaranteed monthly benefit for life once you’re eligible.
That pension is a big factor for me because I’m thinking long-term and would like the security of a guaranteed retirement income.
Aside from that, we’re looking forward to warmer weather, being closer to the coast, and hopefully finding a 4-5 bedroom home on around 1.5 acres within about 45 minutes of Charleston.
For those of you who live in the Charleston area or have moved from the Northeast:
Was the move worth it?
Has your quality of life improved?
Is there anything you wish you’d known before moving?
Does our plan sound realistic, or are we overlooking something?
I’d really appreciate hearing both the positives and the negatives. We’re trying to make the most informed decision possible.

My family and I live in Western Massachusetts, we’ve had a few of our friends recently move to the Carolina’s and Georgia, they’ve been trying to get us to move down and we have have been leaning more and more to leaving and going there and starting a new life. Mass is one of the highest taxed states in the country. We live on less than a acre and pay $5000 a year in property taxes alone, we have only 1 kid and are looking to have 1 or 2 more and with a 3 bed 1 bath we’re already outgrowing it. Definitely looking to move more to the Savannah area or atleast a hour within it due to our jobs (she’s a nurse, I’m a water operator). We’re looking to have property, enough to have a small family farm, and preferably be able to shoot/ target practice. Looking for good schools for my kids to go to aswell as they get older. We’ve made our mind up about definitely leaving this place it’s all about just when and where. Thank you all for any insight you may be able to give me.