You don’t have to spend a fortune to eat like a king by the ocean. Seriously. While lobster at a fancy Boston harborfront restaurant might drain your wallet faster than the tide rolls in, there are coastal towns scattered across the United States where the seafood is extraordinary and the prices still make sense. We’re talking about places where local fishermen unload their catch steps away from the restaurant kitchen, where nobody bats an eye at a $17 fried shrimp plate, and where the dining scene feels genuine rather than manufactured for tourists.
Each of the coastal towns on this roundup has a median home price below the U.S. average of $425,177 and a cost of living index that qualifies them among the most affordable places to live in the country. Affordability and incredible seafood? That combination is rarer than you’d think. Here’s where you’ll find it.
1. Pascagoula, Mississippi – Gulf Coast’s Best-Kept Secret
Let’s be real: most people have never heard of Pascagoula. That’s exactly what makes it so special. Home buyers in Pascagoula can find waterfront property at a median of just $164,900, making it the most budget-friendly beach town in America according to Realtor.com’s 2024 analysis. For a waterfront location, that number is almost unbelievable.
Despite its industrial presence, Pascagoula knows how to enjoy the coastal lifestyle. The city features waterfront parks, fishing piers, and an abundance of southern charm in its historic districts and local culture. You can kayak on the Pascagoula River or enjoy fresh seafood at local restaurants that showcase Gulf Coast cuisine. The Gulf shrimp, in particular, is about as fresh as it gets.
The city even has a beach park named after Jimmy Buffett, who was born in the nearby area, celebrating the region’s contribution to laid-back Gulf Coast culture. It’s a place with real soul, not just a price tag.
2. Calabash, North Carolina – The Seafood Capital of the World
This one might actually surprise you. Dubbed the “Seafood Capital of the World” by a food editor of the New York Times, the small town of Calabash can boast of more seafood restaurants than any place of its size in the United States. Think about that for a second. A town this small, this completely dedicated to one culinary identity.
Calabash holds a well-earned reputation as the “Seafood Capital of the World,” a title rooted in its distinctive culinary tradition. Here you’ll discover the famed Calabash-style seafood, which means lightly breaded and deep-fried to a perfect, crispy texture. This preparation method, beloved by locals and visitors alike, preserves the fresh flavors of the abundant local catches, making every meal a celebration of maritime heritage.
People in Calabash enjoy a cost of living that’s 13% lower than the country’s average, according to Payscale. In a casual, scenic dining setting, diners at the Waterfront Seafood Shack can enjoy a fried shrimp plate with fries and coleslaw for $17.09, as of August 2025. That price, for right-off-the-boat seafood in the self-proclaimed seafood capital of the world, is genuinely hard to beat.
3. Cedar Key, Florida – Old Florida Flavor on a Budget
Cedar Key is described by Visit Florida as a “quaint, old-fashioned, Old Florida vacation spot,” located about 60 miles west of Gainesville and about 130 miles north of Tampa. It’s both an old-fashioned fishing village and a tourist spot with acclaimed restaurants featuring local seafood, like clams. It’s the kind of place that feels like Florida used to feel before everything got overdeveloped.
According to an Upgraded Points study, the average price of a weekly stay in Cedar Key is $1,330, while a week at Florida’s priciest beach, Key West, averages $4,547. You’re getting roughly the same Gulf waters and fresh fish, for less than a third of the price. Honestly, I think that’s one of the most dramatic value gaps anywhere on the American coast.
The annual Cedar Key Seafood Festival continues a half-century tradition of great food, entertainment, shopping, and family fun. The festival celebrates Cedar Key’s fishing heritage, offering two days of fantastic food prepared by locals, a seafood festival parade, and over 100 arts and crafts exhibitors. It’s the kind of event that tells you everything about how deeply a community takes its seafood identity seriously.
4. Newport, Oregon – Pacific Northwest Seafood Heaven
West Coast seafood lovers, this one is for you. Newport, Oregon sits in a completely different culinary universe from the Gulf towns. Think Dungeness crab, fresh albacore, and Yaquina Bay oysters. Newport maintains a working fishing harbor that gives the town an authentic, lived-in character rather than feeling like a manufactured resort destination.
Newport is home to Oregon’s tallest lighthouse and beaches where you can spot bald eagles overhead and humpbacks offshore. It’s also a favorite among anglers and crabbers, who compete with sea lions for the freshest catch at the public pier. Mo’s Seafood and Chowder opened in 1946 and is the perfect place to warm up with its piping hot slumgullion, which is clam chowder with Oregon pink shrimp, in a bread bowl.
Newport’s median list price sits at $399,950, and Ocean Shores, Washington comes in close behind. This affordability, combined with the stunning natural beauty of the Oregon coast, creates an exceptional value proposition for coastal living enthusiasts. For a West Coast beach town, that’s a genuinely rare deal.
5. Corpus Christi, Texas – Gulf City with Big Seafood Energy
Corpus Christi is the wild card on this list, and a good one. It’s not a quaint fishing village, it’s a real city with real city energy. The biggest city on this list, Corpus Christi has over 100 miles of beach access, but still offers that relaxed coastal energy. That combination of urban convenience and genuine Gulf Coast lifestyle is rare.
Median home prices in the low $300,000s sit well below what you’d pay in other U.S. coastal cities of comparable size and amenity level. This affordability, combined with Texas’s favorable tax environment and reasonable cost of living, makes Corpus Christi an attractive option for those who want more than just a small beach town can offer.
The city’s downtown features numerous restaurants showcasing fresh Gulf seafood, diverse shopping options, and that friendly Texas hospitality the state is famous for. Unlike smaller beach towns where dining and entertainment options may be limited, Corpus Christi delivers the variety and sophistication of a real city. You’ll find everything from casual beachside cafes to upscale dining, live music venues, museums, and year-round festivals and events.
6. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – More Than Just Golf and Arcades
People tend to write Myrtle Beach off as a kitschy, overly touristy strip. That’s fair up to a point, but here’s the thing: it’s also one of the most accessible seafood destinations on the entire East Coast. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina ranks among the most affordable beach towns in America with a median list price of $299,500.
Myrtle Beach is undeniably touristy, but it’s also one of the most condo-packed beach towns in the U.S., which helps keep prices accessible. It’s ideal for buyers looking for short-term rental potential or a golf lover’s paradise. The sheer density of seafood restaurants in and around the area creates genuine competition, which is almost always good for prices and quality.
Calabash-style seafood buffets are common in many eastern Carolina coastal towns. Myrtle Beach, just 25 miles from Calabash, is home to a large number of these restaurants. So you get that legendary Calabash fried seafood tradition, without even leaving Myrtle Beach. That’s a seriously underrated perk for food-focused travelers.
7. Grand Isle, Louisiana – Where the Bayou Meets the Gulf
Grand Isle is one of those places that food writers seem almost afraid to share, because honestly, once people find out, it might not stay this affordable. As Louisiana’s only inhabited barrier island, Grand Isle is a haven for fishing enthusiasts and offers serene beaches. It’s remote, it’s raw, and it’s delicious.
Louisiana has a very rich and scrumptious seafood culture. Crab, langoustine, shrimp, and even alligator feature prominently, but the real star of the show is crayfish. Used as a cheaper and smaller alternative to lobster, crayfish have that tender tail meat that goes well with everything. In Grand Isle, this kind of cooking is daily life, not a tourist attraction.
Grand Isle’s median list price sits at $375,000, which for a Louisiana barrier island with direct Gulf access and legendary fresh seafood, represents an extraordinary value. It’s hard to say for sure how long that will last, given how quickly the rest of coastal America has been repriced upward in recent years.
8. Ocean Springs, Mississippi – The Artsy Gulf Town That Cooks Brilliantly
Ocean Springs is criminally underrated on every level. Most people have never heard of it. Ocean Springs is a walkable, creative haven just east of Biloxi, packed with independent shops, galleries, and museums. Its nickname is “The City of Discovery” for its artistic and historical legacy. It’s the kind of place that surprises you first with its charm, then with its food.
The Gulf seafood culture here runs deep. Shrimp boats still work the Mississippi Sound, and the local restaurants take that heritage seriously. The town sits at the intersection of Southern hospitality, genuine fishing tradition, and a surprisingly vibrant arts community, a combination you genuinely don’t find many places. Whether you’re drawn to the balmy Gulf Coast, fresh seafood, and a relaxed pace, these coastal gems offer picture-perfect views without draining your wallet.
To identify the most affordable beach towns, Realtor.com researchers started with a federal database of beaches and their locations, then ranked them by median list prices for single-family homes including condos, based on March 2024 data. Ocean Springs consistently appears among the most favorable Gulf Coast options in this kind of analysis, combining low housing costs with one of the richest seafood traditions the Southern coast has to offer.
