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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-CHARLESTON-SC · Charleston, SC 152,014 pop · income 71st pct · 99 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Charleston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Charleston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Jackson · lowest
43,238
Jackson · lowest
43,238 median HH income
23.8% of the leader · rank #1
Allouez · near
90,035
Allouez · near
90,035 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #2
Charleston · this city
90,038
Charleston · this city
90,038 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #3
Richmond · near
90,038
Richmond · near
90,038 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #4
Shaftsburg · near
90,054
Shaftsburg · near
90,054 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #5
Cornelius · near
90,071
Cornelius · near
90,071 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #6
Sunnyvale · highest
181,862
Sunnyvale · highest
181,862 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Charleston on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 152,014.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Charleston - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Charleston lands in the 71st percentile for household income and the 25th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
71st
percentile, household income
83rd
percentile, home value
46th
percentile, median rent
25th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Charleston, SC
South Carolina's Charleston is a mid-sized U.S. city, with 152,014 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Charleston brings in $90,038 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 6.3%. Home values in Charleston run a median of $469,100, and the median resident age is 36.1 years. Educational attainment runs 57.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 64.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 1,144 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Stable), down 4% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2379.3 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 66.5°F with 52.5 inches of precipitation per year and 0.3 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in South Carolina run below the national norm: the state registers 93.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,155 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in South Carolina run around $224, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.7 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Charleston's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to schools and households to reported crime to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Charleston, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Charleston growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +8,198 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,144 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Charleston?
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Columbia (138,019 residents, $55,653 income); North Charleston (117,460 residents, $62,789 income); Mount Pleasant (92,662 residents, $121,364 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Roseville, CA (152,438 residents); Bellevue, WA (151,199 residents); Hollywood, FL (152,935 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What physical conditions frame life in Charleston?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 66.5°F, with 52.5 inches of precipitation and 0.3 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for South Carolina is 70.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
What can 99 Census tracts reveal inside Charleston?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 99 Census tracts to this city.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Charleston?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 68.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.9%
Work from home
17.6%
Drive alone
68.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 82,755 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for Charleston?
The NCES join finds 32 public schools within the city match. 57.7% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
32
Bachelor's degree+
57.7%
Poverty estimate
6.3%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Charleston?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2379.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 4% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
2021.7
Violent rate
357.6
Total reported rate
2379.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Charleston?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Household income
$90,038
Home value
$469,100
Value / income
5.2×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 6.3% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.7 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
C+
City profile score · Charleston, SC
61/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A+
57.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living B
93.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income B-
$90,038
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C
6.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
358 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Charleston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 90/100 (A+) · 57.7%
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Household income: 69/100 (B-) · $90,038
Poverty rate: 57/100 (C) · 6.3%
Violent crime: 25/100 (F) · 358 /100k
Where Charleston sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Charleston's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Charleston highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Charleston, SC (this city): home $469,100, crime 2,379/100k
Roseville, CA : home $630,600, crime 1,640/100k
Bellevue, WA : home $1,203,100, crime 3,478/100k
Sunnyvale, CA : home $1,816,600, crime 2,154/100k
Escondido, CA : home $663,500, crime 1,919/100k
Columbia, SC : home $243,500, crime 4,003/100k
North Charleston, SC : home $267,700, crime 4,766/100k
Mount Pleasant, SC : home $667,100, crime 1,300/100k
Rock Hill, SC : home $267,400, crime 2,789/100k
Greenville, SC : home $453,300, crime 4,113/100k
Summerville, SC : home $295,700, crime 1,991/100k
How does Charleston compare to other US cities?
Where Charleston sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income71% higher than other cities
Home value83% pricier than other cities
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
Safety25% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at South Carolina, Charleston ranks #49 of 127 South Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Charleston against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to South Carolina only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
South Carolina-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Charleston near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Charleston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Charleston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#47 of 403
88th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#21 of 404
95th percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#326 of 439
25th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#22 of 441
95th percentile in South Carolina
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within South Carolina only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
71st percentile nationally for median household income · 25th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Charleston's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Charleston's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Charleston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$469,10017th percentilemore affordable than 17% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Charleston's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,201 of 15,516
More affordable than 15% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#474 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 5.2×, Charleston sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,201 of 15,516 and #474 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$90,038Charleston, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Charleston, SC median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Charleston, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)57.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
152,014
Median Income
$90,038
Median Home Value
$469,100
Median Age
36.1
Poverty Rate
6.3%
Labor force participation
64.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
57.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2379.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
357.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2021.7
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
66.5°F
Annual Precipitation
52.5"
Annual Snowfall
0.3"
Schools
Total Schools
32
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Charleston's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
151,225 residents
2021
152,328 residents
2022
154,665 residents
2023
156,771 residents
2024
158,791 residents
2025
159,423 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
1,144
housing units authorized
Single-Family
878
detached homes
Multifamily
266
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
7.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,188
828
360
$149.5M
2020
1,281
959
322
$168.5M
2021
1,469
1,091
378
$192.2M
2022
1,401
942
459
$172.6M
2023
1,254
891
363
$159.7M
2024
1,144
878
266
$155.7M
Permit volume decreased 4% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
68.1%
Carpool
6.5%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
4.1%
Work from Home
17.6%
Other
2.8%
Based on 82,755 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
South Carolina statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $224
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across South Carolina at $224 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are South Carolina statewide averages, not a meter reading for Charleston. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
South Carolina's BEA cost-of-living index is 93.7 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Charleston is $1,155/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to South Carolina statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.7 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a South Carolina statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Charleston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Charleston compares to similar-size South Carolina cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.