How big is Charleston, South Carolina?

Charleston has a population of approximately 88,004 residents according to the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2019–2023). It is a city by Census Place size classification.

Is housing in Charleston affordable?

By the years-to-own measure, housing in Charleston is expensive. The median home value ($537,457) divided by the median household income ($68,584) gives a ratio of 7.8 — meaning the median home costs about 7.8 years of pre-tax household income. (Lower is more affordable; the U.S. median is ~4.) Methodology: /methodology/years-to-own/.

Is the climate changing in Charleston?

Charleston is steadily warming at a rate of 3.11°F per century, measured as the linear regression slope of annual mean temperature on year since 1970. Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv. Methodology: /methodology/warming-velocity/.

What is the median household income in Charleston?

The median household income in Charleston is $68,584, which ranks at the 49th percentile nationally — higher than 49% of U.S. Census places. Source: U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year 2019–2023.

How did Charleston vote in the 2024 presidential election?

Charleston is Democratic-leaning. In the 2024 presidential election, the underlying county recorded 46% Republican and 52% Democratic. Source: MIT Election Lab.

What is the local economy like in Charleston?

Charleston's economy is moderately concentrated across major industry sectors, with a Herfindahl–Hirschman Index of 2,344. The single largest NAICS sector accounts for 40% of local establishments. Source: U.S. Census County Business Patterns. Methodology: /methodology/industry-hhi/.

What county is Charleston in?

Charleston is in Charleston County, SC. Charleston County has a total population of 449,614 with a years-to-own ratio of 6.8.

How old is the population in Charleston?

The median resident in Charleston is 35.9 years old, which is typical than the U.S. median of about 38.9. Source: U.S. Census ACS.

Charleston, South Carolina — Commerce Institute

55 years

The slow remaking of a charleston

Per-capita personal income from 1969 to 2024, drawn from BEA County Income data.

Per-capita personal income

BEA Personal Income · Charleston County

Income up 25.5× in 55 years. Charleston County per-capita personal income rose from $3,547 in 1969 to $90,550 in 2024.

Time machine

Charleston in 2024 is what Comfort, TX was in 2019.

Across our 8 dimensions, Charleston's 2024 profile most closely matches Comfort, TX's 2019 profile. Similarity score 0.78.

The setting

The lay of the land

Topography

Elevation

12 ft

Coastal — sea-level or near it.

126 years of weather, in one panel

What weather looks like here

Annual averages back to 1900 (NOAA NCEI nClimDiv), severe weather counts since 1950 (NOAA Storm Events Database).

1900–2025 — every year's average temperature

Each stripe is one year. Blue = cooler, red = warmer. The trend is the story. Dashed line marks 1970, when the modern warming era began. 126 years of NOAA nClimDiv records.

Long-run shift

+1.7°F

1900–1929 avg → 2000s+ avg

Warmest year

2017 · 67.7°F

Coldest year

1940 · 62.8°F

By the numbers

Annual avg temp

67.0°F

↗ +1.7°F since 1900

Annual precip

51.5″

Above US avg (30″)

Heating degree days

1,630

mild heating

Cooling degree days

2,395

heavy AC use

Severe weather, 1950–2024

Counted events from NOAA Storm Events Database

Tornadoes

410

≈ 5 per year

Hail

2,345

≈ 31 per year

Flash floods

1,665

≈ 22 per year

Floods

75-yr record

Lightning

300

≈ 4 per year

Within driving distance

In Charleston's orbit

Nearby places — neighbors, the closest county seat, the closest college town. Click through to compare.

Summerville

SC · pop

North Charleston

SC · pop

Mount Pleasant

SC · pop

Goose Creek

SC · pop

Hanahan

SC · pop

James Island

SC · pop

Sangaree

SC · pop

Isle of Palms

SC · pop

Against every other US town

What stands out

Where Charleston ranks among 32,000+ US Census places. Each dot is this place; the gray band is the national distribution; the red tick is the national median.

Industry mix

Local establishment count by NAICS sector · Census County Business Patterns · 2014–2022

Professional24%

Retail23%

Food & lodging17%

Healthcare17%

Construction15%

Manufacturing4%

Agriculture0%

What's notable about Charleston

Top 3% nationally for population size
Top 5% nationally for housing cost burden
Top quartile nationally for home values (rank 89)
Top quartile nationally for education level (rank 83)

If you like Charleston

Towns that feel familiar

Across our 768-dimensional embedding of demographics, climate, and economy, these are the places most like Charleston.

#1 · 1.0

North Charleston

SC · pop

HHI$77k

Jan temp50°F

#2 · 0.99

James Island

SC · pop

HHI$97k

Jan temp51°F

#3 · 0.99

Kiawah Island

SC · pop

HHI$117k

#4 · 0.99

Isle of Palms

SC · pop

HHI$132k

Frequently asked

Common questions about Charleston

Each answer is computed from the data on this page. Citation sources linked in each answer.

How big is Charleston, South Carolina?: Charleston has a population of approximately 88,004 residents according to the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2019–2023). It is a city by Census Place size classification.
Is housing in Charleston affordable?: By the years-to-own measure, housing in Charleston is expensive. The median home value ($537,457) divided by the median household income ($68,584) gives a ratio of 7.8 — meaning the median home costs about 7.8 years of pre-tax household income. (Lower is more affordable; the U.S. median is ~4.) Methodology: /methodology/years-to-own/.
Is the climate changing in Charleston?: Charleston is steadily warming at a rate of 3.11°F per century, measured as the linear regression slope of annual mean temperature on year since 1970. Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv. Methodology: /methodology/warming-velocity/.
What is the median household income in Charleston?: The median household income in Charleston is $68,584, which ranks at the 49th percentile nationally — higher than 49% of U.S. Census places. Source: U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year 2019–2023.
How did Charleston vote in the 2024 presidential election?: Charleston is Democratic-leaning. In the 2024 presidential election, the underlying county recorded 46% Republican and 52% Democratic. Source: MIT Election Lab.
What is the local economy like in Charleston?: Charleston's economy is moderately concentrated across major industry sectors, with a Herfindahl–Hirschman Index of 2,344. The single largest NAICS sector accounts for 40% of local establishments. Source: U.S. Census County Business Patterns. Methodology: /methodology/industry-hhi/.
What county is Charleston in?: Charleston is in Charleston County, SC. Charleston County has a total population of 449,614 with a years-to-own ratio of 6.8.
How old is the population in Charleston?: The median resident in Charleston is 35.9 years old, which is typical than the U.S. median of about 38.9. Source: U.S. Census ACS.

Every number on this page comes from a federal data source.

Commerce Institute builds profiles from public-domain federal datasets only — no surveys, no proprietary scoring, no opaque indexes. Every metric on this page is queryable; every methodology is published.

U.S. Census ACS — demographics, housing, education, 2014–2023
BEA Personal Income — per-capita income, 1969–2024
BLS QCEW — wages by NAICS sector, 1990–2024
NOAA NCEI nClimDiv — climate, 1901–2024
NOAA Storm Events — severe weather, 1950–2024
Zillow ZHVI — home values, 2000–2025
FHFA HPI — housing index, 1975–2025
IRS SOI Migration — net flows + AGI, 1991–2022
MIT Election Lab — presidential, 2008–2024
Census CBP — business establishments by NAICS, 2014–2022
USGS Elevation — place elevation
OpenStreetMap — retail brand presence, F&B amenities
+ 23 more sources — covering health, schools, banking, agriculture, mobility, civic life

Rendered 2026-05-12. See methodology for every metric definition.

Charleston,
South Carolina.

29407

Charleston County, SC

South Carolina

The slow remaking of a charleston

The lay of the land

What weather looks like here

In Charleston's orbit

What stands out

What's notable about Charleston

Towns that feel familiar

Common questions about Charleston

Every number on this page comes from a federal data source.