Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Charleston are higher than in 70% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Charleston B+; getting around on foot earns it A. 12.3% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 14.1% for South Carolina as a whole. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 2.2 in North Charleston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Charleston at work: what stands out
A lot of Charleston works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders Charleston: North Charleston (17%), Mount Pleasant (9%) and James Island (1%). Next door ↓
Charleston gains people on a workday
About 194,000 people are in Charleston on a workday afternoon, 22% more than the 159,000 who live here: 75,000 come in to work and 41,000 head out. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Charleston
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Charleston is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #27 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Charleston’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Charleston could be anywhere from B to A−.
Charleston fills up on a workday
On a workday 40,884 residents head out to work, 29,322 work right here, and 75,296 people come in from elsewhere.
About 194,000 people are in Charleston on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in North Charleston
Where Charleston clocks in
17% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Most jobs in Charleston are in services
104,618 jobs are based in Charleston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charleston, 2013 → 2023: 86,331 → 104,618. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Charleston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Charleston’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charleston workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 67,780 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 86% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The distance from Charleston to work
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Charleston is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Charleston is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #7 of 169 in South Carolina. Both inputs place Charleston near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 84,120 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 20% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.2% of Charleston households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Charleston’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
60th of 206: where Charleston ranks among U.S. towns of 112,000 to 215,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| 3 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Sioux Falls SD | 213,748 | $76K | 9.6% | 2.5% | 81% | B+ |
| 59 | Pembroke Pines FL | 176,714 | $85K | 10.0% | 4.1% | 10% | B+ |
| 60 | Charleston SC | 159,423 | $92K | 12.3% | 3.4% | 42% | B+ |
| 61 | Thousand Oaks CA | 122,230 | $136K | 8.9% | 5.4% | 26% | B+ |
| 62 | Hayward CA | 157,113 | $113K | 9.6% | 6.3% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | North Charleston SC | 129,245 | $63K | 14.4% | 4.3% | 34% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 188 | Columbia SC | 147,035 | $56K | 24.0% | 7.5% | 40% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Charleston, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
The towns next door employ 29% of Charleston
The biggest share goes to North Charleston (17%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charleston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | – | B+ | A | 24 min | $92,414 |
| James Island | 1% | A | B+ | 23 min | $104,217 |
| Hollywood | under 1% | B | B− | 35 min | $73,693 |
| Folly Beach | under 1% | A | B+ | 27 min | $102,279 |
| North Charleston | 17% | B− | A− | 25 min | $62,956 |
| Mount Pleasant | 9% | A | B | 25 min | $124,755 |
| Goose Creek | 1% | A− | B+ | 27 min | $88,178 |
| Hanahan | 1% | A− | B+ | 24 min | $87,984 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Charleston’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Charleston: questions
What is the median household income in Charleston?
$92,414 (±$3,404) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charleston?
12.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charleston?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charleston work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Charleston (17%, 8 mi), Mount Pleasant (9%, 6 mi), Columbia (2%, 99 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Charleston walkable?
Charleston is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charleston without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 20% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charleston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charleston
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.