Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0How Charleston works: jobs, income and commuting
Hardly any work in Charleston itself; outside it, Cleveland draws the most (37%, 10 miles). Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, against 13% across Tennessee. Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average; Tennessee averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Charleston: the gist
Charleston and Cleveland trade workers both ways
Cleveland is the top workplace for Charleston residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Charleston come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Charleston makes and builds things
59% of the jobs based in Charleston are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Charleston residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Few Charleston workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Tennessee. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 444 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The places Charleston commutes to
Where Charleston clocks in
37% of workers
20% of workers
3% 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.
Charleston makes things: 59% of its jobs are in goods
358 jobs are based in Charleston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charleston, 2014 → 2024: 115 → 358. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Charleston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Charleston, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charleston workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 507 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Tennessee: 87% 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.
Who commutes out of Charleston, and who commutes in
On a workday 442 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 356 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The commute from Charleston, by distance
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Around Charleston: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Calhoun (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charleston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | – | — | — | 27 min | $72,763 |
| Calhoun | 1% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Calhoun: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. 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 2024, 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?
$72,763 (±$16,327) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charleston?
9.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charleston?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charleston work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cleveland (37%, 10 mi), Chattanooga (20%, 31 mi), Knoxville (3%, 66 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Charleston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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), 2024, 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.