Roof and rent
What it costs to live in Charleston, owned or rented, and who is stretched by it.
On this page
At a glance
Median home value
$469,100
± $10,153
Owner-occupied units.
2019–23
Median gross rent
$1,632
± $36
Per month, including utilities.
2019–23
Owner-occupied
55.6%
2019–23
Renters paying 30%+
49.8%
The federal threshold for “cost burdened.”
2019–23
Composition
What renters actually pay
The figures behind the chart
| Share of renter households | Value |
|---|---|
| Under 20% of income | 22% |
| 20–30% | 23.3% |
| 30–35% - cost burdened | 8% |
| 35–50% | 17.3% |
| Over 50% - severely burdened | 24.5% |
| Not computed | 4.9% |
2019–23 · B25070
Geography
Where the expensive housing is
All 99 tracts, as a table
| Tract | Value |
|---|---|
| Census Tract 48 | $2,000,001 |
| Census Tract 2 | $2,000,001 |
| Census Tract 21.04 | $1,723,200 |
| Census Tract 49.01 | $1,673,100 |
| Census Tract 46.21 | $1,126,900 |
| Census Tract 49.02 | $1,106,900 |
| Census Tract 1 | $1,101,400± |
| Census Tract 5 | $1,076,900 |
| Census Tract 20.04 | $1,008,700 |
| Census Tract 4 | $1,001,600± |
| Census Tract 51 | $971,000 |
| Census Tract 7 | $947,900± |
| Census Tract 21.05 | $937,800 |
| Census Tract 46.16 | $810,800 |
| Census Tract 10 | $800,600 |
| Census Tract 47.01 | $779,100 |
| Census Tract 30 | $750,000 |
| Census Tract 46.13 | $747,900 |
| Census Tract 6 | $736,700 |
| Census Tract 46.20 | $722,700 |
| Census Tract 20.07 | $693,600 |
| Census Tract 46.17 | $686,000 |
| Census Tract 46.14 | $659,000 |
| Census Tract 46.15 | $657,000 |
| Census Tract 46.19 | $654,700 |
| Census Tract 47.02 | $634,600 |
| Census Tract 59 | $624,600 |
| Census Tract 53 | $622,700 |
| Census Tract 46.10 | $622,400 |
| Census Tract 46.07 | $614,100± |
| Census Tract 46.18 | $588,100 |
| Census Tract 46.22 | $585,700 |
| Census Tract 15 | $567,000 |
| Census Tract 46.09 | $563,800 |
| Census Tract 44 | $561,300± |
| Census Tract 21.03 | $547,500 |
| Census Tract 21.08 | $528,300 |
| Census Tract 19.01 | $517,800 |
| Census Tract 28.02 | $516,500 |
| Census Tract 20.05 | $511,100 |
| Census Tract 21.06 | $507,600 |
| Census Tract 9 | $500,000± |
| Census Tract 20.06 | $477,900 |
| Census Tract 20.09 | $471,200 |
| Census Tract 46.12 | $468,700 |
| Census Tract 23 | $455,700 |
| Census Tract 56.01 | $449,500 |
| Census Tract 26.06 | $448,200 |
| Census Tract 26.12 | $446,800 |
| Census Tract 22 | $442,100± |
| Census Tract 57.01 | $434,200 |
| Census Tract 19.02 | $423,000 |
| Census Tract 21.07 | $421,500 |
| Census Tract 50.01 | $421,400 |
| Census Tract 26.04 | $418,500 |
| Census Tract 11 | $414,200± |
| Census Tract 36 | $413,900 |
| Census Tract 25.04 | $405,300 |
| Census Tract 26.05 | $403,900 |
| Census Tract 35 | $403,200 |
| Census Tract 50.02 | $398,500 |
| Census Tract 20.08 | $396,600 |
| Census Tract 58 | $379,700 |
| Census Tract 56.02 | $378,500 |
| Census Tract 28.01 | $363,400 |
| Census Tract 57.02 | $363,100 |
| Census Tract 54 | $362,500± |
| Census Tract 20.02 | $361,200 |
| Census Tract 26.14 | $341,600 |
| Census Tract 39 | $329,100 |
| Census Tract 29 | $321,500 |
| Census Tract 25.03 | $299,200± |
| Census Tract 26.11 | $291,300 |
| Census Tract 26.13 | $286,200 |
| Census Tract 27.02 | $277,500 |
| Census Tract 27.01 | $269,600± |
| Census Tract 31.15 | $248,400 |
| Census Tract 31.07 | $247,700 |
| Census Tract 31.16 | $247,600 |
| Census Tract 37 | $244,800± |
| Census Tract 31.17 | $243,600 |
| Census Tract 24.01 | $239,900± |
| Census Tract 31.06 | $239,300 |
| Census Tract 31.13 | $229,600 |
| Census Tract 31.08 | $229,200 |
| Census Tract 31.11 | $217,400 |
| Census Tract 31.10 | $206,100 |
| Census Tract 31.09 | $191,000 |
| Census Tract 24.02 | $161,300± |
| Census Tract 34 | $159,800± |
| Census Tract 31.05 | $122,800 |
| Census Tract 33 | $116,500± |
| Census Tract 55 | $114,500 |
| Census Tract 40 | $113,900 |
| Census Tract 38 | $113,000 |
| Census Tract 31.04 | $87,600± |
| Census Tract 9901 | Not available |
| Census Tract 43 | Not available |
| Census Tract 32 | Not available |
2019–23 · B25077
Composition
When it was built
The figures behind the chart
| Share of housing units | Value |
|---|---|
| Built 2010 or later | 25.3% |
| 2000–2009 | 19.1% |
| 1980–1999 | 20.6% |
| 1960–1979 | 15.7% |
| Before 1960 | 19.3% |
2019–23 · B25034
Reading it
What’s notable
49.8% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income in rent, against a median gross rent of $1,632. More than that, 24.5% pay over half - the band where a car repair becomes an eviction.
Only 55.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, against 29,479 renter households - low for a city this size, and the reason rent burden rather than mortgage cost is the number worth watching here.
Value and rent come from different questions. Median value is what owners say their home would sell for, which lags and smooths a rising market. Median gross rent includes utilities, so it is not directly comparable to an advertised rent. Both are five-year averages, meaning a market that moved sharply in the last year is under-represented here by construction.
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 home price in Charleston, SC?+
The American Community Survey puts the median value of an owner-occupied home at $469,100. That is owners’ own estimate of what their home is worth, averaged over five years - not a sale price, and it will trail a fast-rising market.
What is the average rent in Charleston?+
Median gross rent is $1,632 per month, which includes utilities. Advertised rents for new leases typically run higher, since this figure averages every renter household including long-tenured ones.
What does “cost burdened” mean?+
Paying 30% or more of household income toward rent. It is a federal convention rather than a measured threshold - it dates to 1980s housing policy - but it is the standard everyone uses, so it is what the Bureau publishes. Above 50% is “severely cost burdened.”
Do most people in Charleston own or rent?+
Own. 55.6% of occupied housing units are owner-occupied.
Why is the map by census tract instead of neighborhood?+
Because tracts are what the Bureau publishes. Neighborhood boundaries are informal and contested; tracts are stable, roughly equal in population, and the smallest geography with reliable five-year estimates.