37 census tracts

Charleston.South Carolina housing market

This Charleston housing market report covers about 72,200 homes across 37 census tracts. The average of 853 active listings, $1,151,307, costs 13.3 times the median household income, higher than in 130 of the 139 markets PriceDNA tracks.

Aerial view of Charleston, South Carolina
The peninsula from above, with the historic district and the Ashley River. Adobe Stock
Average listing price
$1,151,307
853 active listings · Realtor.com Economic Research, Monthly Housing Inventory · August 2026
Population growth
+1.1%
a year, 2020 to 2025 · Census population estimates
Approximate homes
72,200
across 37 assigned tracts
Vacant homes
12.6%
of all homes
Renter-occupied
38%
of occupied homes

Charleston housing market context

These are city-level figures. To see how one property measures up against your goal, run a specific address.

01.

Location score distribution

How location scores vary across 37 census tracts in Charleston.

median 69.0 63 82

Half of Charleston's tracts score between 66 and 73. The full range spans 63 to 82, with a median of 69.0.

Distribution of tract scores
Median (69.0)
Mean (69.7)

What the location score shows

PriceDNA Location Score™ is a 0 to 100 signal designed to summarize local strength and risk context for rental-property analysis. Higher scores generally point to stronger location fundamentals.

The middle half of Charleston's tracts is 7.0 points wide on the score, wider than in 103 of the 139 markets PriceDNA tracks.

To see the location score for your specific property, analyze a property

02.

Housing composition

Key housing statistics for approximately 72,200 homes in Charleston, including occupancy, tenure, and structure type.

Tenure of occupied homes: owner 62%, renter 38%.
Tenure of occupied homes Owner 62% · Renter 38%
Housing occupancy: occupied 87.4%, vacant 12.6%.
Occupancy Occupied 87.4% · Vacant 12.6%

Of about 72,200 homes, 12.6% are vacant. Among occupied homes, 38% are renter-occupied, providing context on the size of the local rental base.

By structure type, about 62% of Charleston’s housing units are in single-family structures, 9% in small multifamily buildings (2 to 4 units), and 27% in larger multifamily buildings (5+ units). Percentages are rounded; small residual structure categories are not shown.

03.

How Charleston compares

Charleston's median is above the South Carolina median on 6 of these 8 measures and above the U.S. median on 8. The city range shows the lower quarter, median and upper quarter of its census tracts.

How Charleston compares with South Carolina and United States medians
Metric Charleston lower · median · upper Charleston South Carolina SC United States US
Census ACS B19013 · 2020 to 2024
$70,527 $86,864 $98,801 $67,225 $77,171
Census ACS B15003 · 2020 to 2024
57% 65% 69% 39% 41%
Census ACS B01001 · 2020 to 2024
35% 41% 44% 30% 32%
FHFA HPI · 2025
7.0% 7.0% 7.8% 6.4% 5.2%
HUD SAFMR · 2018 to 2027 + Census ACS B25064 · 2014 to 2024
5.1% 5.3% 5.7% 3.9% 3.8%
Census ACS B25103 · 2020 to 2024 + Lincoln Institute
1.77% every tract 1.77% 1.65%
Census ACS B25141 · 2020 to 2024 + U.S. Treasury FIO
0.53% 0.64% 0.65% 0.66% 0.56%
Census ACS B25064 + B19013 · 2020 to 2024
29.1% 34.0% 36.4% 31.8% 30.8%
04.

About this data

PriceDNA uses the most local reliable data available for each metric. Some signals are available at the census-tract level. Others are published or more reliable at broader geographies such as county, metro, state, or national level.

Housing-unit totals are approximate. PriceDNA sums Census ACS counts for the tracts assigned to the city by centroid, so the market total can differ from a municipal boundary count when a tract crosses the city line.

The property-tax assumption combines local residential tax data with a state-level apartment benchmark to provide more conservative context for rental-property underwriting. Insurance assumptions use available residential property insurance data and should be verified for the specific property and coverage.

These pages are designed for market screening and investor education. They do not replace property-level underwriting, inspections, appraisals, insurance quotes, lender review, or professional advice.

05.

Nearby markets

Market pages for other cities within 300 miles.

You've seen Charleston. Now analyze a specific address.

PriceDNA's goal-convergent valuation shows the purchase price that supports your investing goal, not just the market average.