Money and its absence
What households in Charleston earn, how unevenly, and how many fall below the line.
On this page
At a glance
Median household income
$90,038
± $4,110
2019–23
Per capita income
$58,583
± $2,115
2019–23
Below the poverty line
12%
2019–23
Households over $200k
16.4%
2019–23
Composition
The distribution behind the median
The figures behind the chart
| Share of households | Value |
|---|---|
| Under $25,000 | 13.7% |
| $25,000–$49,999 | 13.8% |
| $50,000–$74,999 | 14.7% |
| $75,000–$99,999 | 12.7% |
| $100,000–$149,999 | 18.6% |
| $150,000–$199,999 | 10% |
| $200,000 or more | 16.4% |
2019–23 · B19001
Geography
Where the money is
All 99 tracts, as a table
| Tract | Value |
|---|---|
| Census Tract 21.04 | $236,607 |
| Census Tract 46.13 | $233,578 |
| Census Tract 2 | $232,969 |
| Census Tract 48 | $179,614 |
| Census Tract 46.17 | $173,750 |
| Census Tract 20.07 | $163,043 |
| Census Tract 46.15 | $163,011 |
| Census Tract 46.21 | $155,707 |
| Census Tract 49.01 | $148,091 |
| Census Tract 49.02 | $147,880± |
| Census Tract 46.10 | $140,769 |
| Census Tract 21.05 | $138,929 |
| Census Tract 30 | $132,422 |
| Census Tract 21.06 | $126,695 |
| Census Tract 46.19 | $125,326 |
| Census Tract 57.01 | $122,917 |
| Census Tract 46.18 | $122,898± |
| Census Tract 28.02 | $115,221 |
| Census Tract 21.07 | $115,085 |
| Census Tract 47.01 | $114,502 |
| Census Tract 26.06 | $112,010 |
| Census Tract 20.05 | $108,906 |
| Census Tract 47.02 | $107,292 |
| Census Tract 35 | $107,094 |
| Census Tract 56.01 | $106,310 |
| Census Tract 21.03 | $104,042 |
| Census Tract 46.14 | $103,250 |
| Census Tract 20.02 | $102,413 |
| Census Tract 20.06 | $102,405 |
| Census Tract 46.20 | $101,935 |
| Census Tract 19.01 | $101,929 |
| Census Tract 5 | $101,213 |
| Census Tract 46.16 | $99,316± |
| Census Tract 46.09 | $98,924± |
| Census Tract 6 | $98,214 |
| Census Tract 20.04 | $97,891± |
| Census Tract 58 | $97,663 |
| Census Tract 15 | $97,404 |
| Census Tract 46.07 | $96,346 |
| Census Tract 59 | $94,286 |
| Census Tract 22 | $93,480 |
| Census Tract 1 | $91,833± |
| Census Tract 36 | $88,125 |
| Census Tract 27.01 | $87,500± |
| Census Tract 20.09 | $86,976± |
| Census Tract 28.01 | $86,414 |
| Census Tract 25.04 | $83,083 |
| Census Tract 56.02 | $82,730± |
| Census Tract 46.12 | $82,173± |
| Census Tract 32 | $82,159 |
| Census Tract 50.01 | $82,083± |
| Census Tract 29 | $82,025 |
| Census Tract 31.09 | $81,311± |
| Census Tract 57.02 | $80,043± |
| Census Tract 20.08 | $79,280 |
| Census Tract 26.04 | $78,607 |
| Census Tract 21.08 | $77,900 |
| Census Tract 26.13 | $74,183 |
| Census Tract 31.07 | $72,799 |
| Census Tract 26.11 | $72,578 |
| Census Tract 31.17 | $71,269 |
| Census Tract 50.02 | $71,114 |
| Census Tract 19.02 | $71,000± |
| Census Tract 39 | $70,435± |
| Census Tract 27.02 | $69,421 |
| Census Tract 9 | $68,340 |
| Census Tract 11 | $68,090 |
| Census Tract 10 | $67,938± |
| Census Tract 26.14 | $67,474 |
| Census Tract 26.12 | $66,121 |
| Census Tract 38 | $63,595 |
| Census Tract 51 | $63,194± |
| Census Tract 26.05 | $62,656 |
| Census Tract 31.11 | $62,097 |
| Census Tract 31.13 | $60,707 |
| Census Tract 31.06 | $60,585 |
| Census Tract 31.08 | $59,743 |
| Census Tract 31.16 | $57,193± |
| Census Tract 23 | $56,641± |
| Census Tract 24.01 | $54,482 |
| Census Tract 25.03 | $53,958± |
| Census Tract 44 | $53,304± |
| Census Tract 31.10 | $53,006 |
| Census Tract 31.15 | $51,188 |
| Census Tract 7 | $50,240± |
| Census Tract 40 | $46,750 |
| Census Tract 31.05 | $46,500 |
| Census Tract 53 | $45,294± |
| Census Tract 34 | $44,771 |
| Census Tract 31.04 | $44,515 |
| Census Tract 33 | $41,360 |
| Census Tract 37 | $40,479 |
| Census Tract 54 | $39,481 |
| Census Tract 55 | $37,500± |
| Census Tract 24.02 | $36,848± |
| Census Tract 4 | $36,750± |
| Census Tract 43 | $33,000 |
| Census Tract 46.22 | Not available |
| Census Tract 9901 | Not available |
2019–23 · B19013
Reading it
What’s notable
The median household earns $90,038, but the median hides the shape: 5.2% of households live on under $10,000 a year while 16.4% clear $200,000. Those two groups share a city, a school district, and a housing market, and almost nothing else.
12% of residents live below the federal poverty line - about 17,496 people. Against a median household income comfortably into five figures, that is the clearest signal on this page that the aggregate and the experience have come apart.
Two cautions on the poverty figure. The federal poverty line is a national threshold that does not adjust for local housing costs, so it understates hardship in an expensive city and overstates it in a cheap one. And the universe excludes people in institutions and college dormitories, which matters wherever a campus sits inside the city limits.
Sources
These are estimates. Most figures here come from surveys of a sample, not a count of everyone, and different rows carry different vintages - each number shows its own rather than being averaged into a single date. Where a margin of error is published it is shown; anything wider than about 30% of its own estimate is flagged, and on maps it is hatched. Read those as “we don’t really know” rather than as a number.
Data retrieved: July 29, 2026
Questions
What is the median household income in Charleston, SC?+
$90,038 a year, per American Community Survey five-year estimates in inflation-adjusted dollars. Half of households earn more than that and half less - it says nothing about how far the tails reach, which is what the distribution chart is for.
What is the difference between median household and per capita income?+
Household income totals everything everyone in a home earns; per capita divides all income by every resident, including children and anyone not working. Per capita is always the smaller number, and the gap between them tracks household size.
What is the poverty rate in Charleston?+
12% of residents for whom poverty status is determined live below the federal poverty line, per American Community Survey five-year estimates. That universe excludes people in institutions and college dormitories.
Why does the poverty threshold not account for local cost of living?+
The official measure is a single national threshold, adjusted only for household size and composition, and it dates to a 1960s calculation based on food budgets. The Census Bureau publishes a Supplemental Poverty Measure that does account for local housing costs, but not at this geography.
How current are these figures?+
They are five-year American Community Survey estimates in inflation-adjusted dollars, so they describe an average across five years rather than a single year. A recent sharp change in local wages will be understated here.