Charleston, SC
Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Charleston ranks 60th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 54th for income. A household earns $90,307 a year while median rent runs $1,714/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 1% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (29th of 300), while hazard safety is the soft spot (287th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 252nd and home prices 232nd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Charleston, your take-home is worth about $57,844 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 54th of 300↑28.1%$90,307
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 241st of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $89,447
- Per-capita income
- $50,484
- Full-time pay
- $51,017
Housing
- Median rent
- 252nd of 300↑41.4%$1,714/mo
- Home value
- 232nd of 300↑61.4%$430,300
- Property tax
- $1,787/yr · 0.4%
- Sales tax
- 7.50%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 29th of 3003%
- Bachelor's+
- 58th of 30042.2%
- Avg commute
- 269th of 30029.4 min
People
- Population
- 869,940
- Population change
- +8.5%
- Median age
- 38.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7.1%
- Broadband
- 95%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 116th of 30044
- Natural-hazard loss
- 287th of 300$42/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 70th of 30016.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 10.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Commute
- – Hazard safety
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — charleston intl ap.
What jobs pay in Charleston
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $255,650
- IT managers
- $167,000
- Financial managers
- $147,170
- Pharmacists
- $145,950
- Software developers
- $132,150
- Lawyers
- $127,280
- General & operations managers
- $109,260
- Civil engineers
- $98,740
- Registered nurses
- $92,800
- Web developers
- $82,740
- Accountants & auditors
- $79,350
- Secondary school teachers
- $65,280
- Elementary school teachers
- $61,020
- Police officers
- $60,570
- Electricians
- $59,010
- Plumbers
- $57,360
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $55,150
- Carpenters
- $50,380
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,540
- Customer service reps
- $44,000
- Construction laborers
- $43,630
- Janitors
- $35,240
- Retail salespersons
- $34,090
- Cashiers
- $30,130
- Waiters & waitresses
- $19,340
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Charleston metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in South Carolina are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- North Carolina3,658
- New York3,367
- Florida2,766
- Virginia2,333
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Charleston
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Charleston metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Charleston metro?
- Median gross rent across the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area is $1,714 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Charleston.
- What is the median household income in the Charleston metro?
- A typical household in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area earns $90,307 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Charleston expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area runs about 1% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Charleston metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $89,447 (versus its face value of $90,307). CityLedger rates the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Charleston metro?
- The median home value across the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area is $430,300 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Charleston metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area is 3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).