Charleston Average Income, Population and Demographics

Are you tired of spending 10+ hours searching for demographic and population data for Charleston, South Carolina? We have all of the data you need by state, county, city, and zip code that will save you many hours of research!

In this article, we'll explore most of the 190+ data points we have for Charleston, covering popular demographics statistics like household income, race, age and gender, educational attainment, poverty, housing, and transportation.

The data on this page is from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey from the US Census Bureau.

Median Household Income

According to the latest ACS 5-year survey in 2022, the median household income in Charleston is $83,891.00.

The chart below shows the average household income by age in Charleston.

• Under 25
  $37,598.00
• 25 to 44
  $94,980.00
• 45 to 64
  $106,345.00
• 65 and over
  $66,493.00

Average Household Income

A very commonly asked question is "what is the average household income in Charleston, South Carolina?". The official term for the average household income is the mean household income. The mean household income is the total income of all households divided by the number of households.

The average (or mean) household income in Charleston is $123,658.00.

14.72% of households in Charleston, South Carolina are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers for Charleston

We can also look at the household income tiers. This lets you see how many households fall into each of the earnings brackets and what percentage that bracket is of the total number of households.

The chart below shows the household income brackets to see which age groups have the highest median income. The actual data is more granular than these brackets, but we've simplified them into bigger categories to make reviewing the data for Charleston, South Carolina easier to view.

You can purchase the raw data above, which will have the full income tiers with smaller jumps in household income.

• Less than $24,999
  14.87%
• $25,000 to $49,999
  15.16%
• $50,000 to $74,999
  14.15%
• $75,000 to $99,999
  13.17%
• $100,000 to $149,999
  18.26%
• $150,000 to $199,999
  9.67%
• $200,000 or more
  14.72%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income is the average income of all people in Charleston, South Carolina. This is calculated by dividing the total income of all people in Charleston by the total number of people in Charleston.

It differs from the average or mean household income because it includes all people in Charleston and not just the people who earn an income (i.e. children, retirees, unemployed, etc.).

The per capita income in Charleston, South Carolina is $55,890.00.

Population in Charleston by Race and Ethnicity

The total population in Charleston is currently 149,960 people.

The race and ethnicity of the population in Charleston can be very important for social research, economics, and marketing to a multi-culturial society.

Whether you want to target products or services to a particular race or ethnicity, or provide housing and new businesses to improve areas with a larger ethnic minority population, this data is very valuable for discovering suitable areas.

The chart below breaks down the population and percentage for each race and ethnicity in Charleston, South Carolina.

• 2.10% White
  3,102
• 95.20% Black/African American
  142,715
• 71.60% Native
  107,318
• 3.00% Hispanic
  4,515
• 18.10% Asian
  27,191
• 0.10% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
  114
• 0.10% Two or more races
  186
• 2.10% Other
  3,164

Population of Charleston by Age and Gender

Another very important demographics statistic for Charleston, South Carolina is the age and gender of the population. The age and gender of the population can be used to track trends in population growth or decline, and for businesses, the data can be used to identify people important to you and your business need.

In the table below, we show age groups at a 10 year granularity for ease of use. The raw data, which can be purchased above, includes age and gender at a 5 year granularity.

Education Levels

Educational attainment is a very useful statistic that can give insights into other data such as the average household income, unemployment levels, and literacy.

What this means is that it is likely for areas that have higher levels of education to have higher average household incomes, lower unemployment rates, and higher literacy rates.

The chart below shows the educational attainment of the population in Charleston, South Carolina.

• Master's degree or higher
  21.00%
• Bachelor's degree
  52.34%
• Some college or associate's degree
  5.61%
• High school diploma or equivalent
  19.44%
• Less than high school diploma
  1.62%

Unemployment Rates

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the population that is actively looking for work but is unable to find a job. The unemployment rate is a very important statistic for Charleston because it can show how many people are actively looking for work and how many people are unable to find a job.

Lower levels of unemployment is generally seen as a positive sign for the economy. It also makes the government in Charleston look good because it shows that they are doing a good job of creating jobs, working to capacity, being efficient, and keeping the economy strong.

The unemployment rate is calculated using the total population in Charleston, South Carolina that are over the age of 16.

The current population in Charleston that are over the age of 16 is 127,433 people.

The unemployment rate in Charleston is 3.70%, which means 3,095 people are unemployed.

Median Age in Charleston

The median age is an interesting metric because it gives us an idea of the age distribution of people in Charleston, South Carolina. You know when you see a median age that it is the age where half of the population is older and half is younger than it.

For demographic studies, this can be used to infer and compare date to things such as birth rates, the age of parents, and so on.

An increasing median age can be a sign of an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population. This is because older people tend to have fewer children and die more often than younger people.

The median age in Charleston is 36.3 years old.

We can also look at the median age by gender to compare the see how each group compares to the total median age:

Median age by gender in Charleston

36.3

Total

34.6

Male

37.7

Female

Households and Families

There are a total of 65,198 households in Charleston, and the average household size is 2.21 people.

For families, the total number is 33,833, and the average family size is 2.9 people.

7.00% of those families in Charleston, South Carolina are living below the poverty line.

The table below shows the poverty thresholds for Charleston in .

Households and Families by Marital Status

There are four types of household and family, as defined by the Census Bureau:

• Married-couple
• Male householder, no spouse present
• Female householder, no spouse present
• Nonfamily household

In the table below, you can see the total households and families in Charleston, South Carolina for each type, as well as the average sizes.

Housing Data in Charleston

There are total of 74,788 housing units in Charleston, South Carolina. Of those units, 65,198 (87.18%) are occupied, and 9,590 (12.82%) are vacant.

Rental Rates

Of the 74,788 housing units in Charleston, 28,036 (37.49%) are occupied by renters. The median rent paid by renters is $1,517.00.

Owner occupied housing units make up the remaining 48.47% of housing units, with 36,251 housing units in total.

The table below breaks down how much rent is paid by renters in Charleston, South Carolina.

• No rent paid
  911
• Less than $500
  1,452
• $500 to $999
  2,648
• $1,000 to $1,499
  9,652
• $1,500 to $1,999
  8,032
• $2,000 to $2,499
  3,920
• $2,500 to $2,999
  1,044
• $3,000 or more
  1,288

Property Values

The median value of a property in Charleston is $438,900.00.

The table below breaks down the range of valuations for all properties in Charleston.

• Less than $50,000
  503
• $50,000 to $99,999
  275
• $100,000 to $149,999
  715
• $150,000 to $199,999
  1,207
• $200,000 to $299,999
  5,489
• $300,000 to $499,999
  13,866
• $500,000 to $999,999
  10,309
• $1,000,000 or more
  3,887

Property Age

We can also look at the number of properties built in a given year to see the spread of property age in Charleston, South Carolina.

• 1939 or earlier
  8,634
• 1940 to 1949
  2,150
• 1950 to 1959
  3,990
• 1960 to 1969
  6,493
• 1970 to 1979
  5,891
• 1980 to 1989
  8,553
• 1990 to 1999
  7,593
• 2000 to 2009
  15,051
• 2010 to 2013
  15,555
• 2014 or later
  878

Vehicles Available per Household

Finally, we have data on how many vehicles each household in Charleston has. The table below breaks down the number of vehicles available per household.

• No vehicles available
  4,596
• 1 vehicle available
  24,943
• 2 vehicles available
  26,927
• 3 or more vehicles available
  8,732

Commuting to Work in Charleston

The time and means of commuting to work are useful metrics to look at because they can be correlated against other data such as income and education level.

Does a longer commuting time indicate a higher average income? If so, has the huge increase in home working during the pandemic changed this?

Using these metrics, we can get a better understanding of the demographics of Charleston, South Carolina, how they commute, and how that correlates to other data points.

The average travel time is 23 minutes, and the chart below covers the range of travel times across the population of Charleston.

• Less than 5 minutes
  1,111
• 5 to 9 minutes
  7,156
• 10 to 14 minutes
  10,036
• 15 to 19 minutes
  12,664
• 20 to 24 minutes
  12,096
• 25 to 29 minutes
  5,765
• 30 to 34 minutes
  9,905
• 35 to 39 minutes
  1,812
• 40 to 44 minutes
  2,025
• 45 to 59 minutes
  4,766
• 60 to 89 minutes
  1,412
• 90 or more minutes
  961

We can also look at the means of transport in Charleston to see which modes of transport people are using to commute to work.

• Drove alone
  57,863
• Carpooled
  5,305
• Public transportation
  626
• Walked
  3,537
• Other means
  2,378
• Worked from home
  11,925

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has given you the demographics data you were looking for in Charleston, South Carolina.

If you need more demographics data, or you need the data listed above in spreadsheet form with more granular grouping, head back to the top of this page where you can purchase the complete demographics data for Charleston.

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