Charleston is a larger medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 96,086 people and 40 constituent neighborhoods, Charleston is the second largest community in South Carolina.

Charleston is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 85.51% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Charleston is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Charleston who work in sales jobs (13.52%), office and administrative support jobs (12.35%), and management occupations (9.27%).

Charleston is a nice balance between life in a moderately big city and the interesting diversions and culture that come from having a big college student population. The thousands of students who arrive on campus every fall will find that Charleston has plenty of amenities and opportunities for them, while residents of Charleston enjoy the lectures, music, art, and economic trickle-down that colleges typically provide. "Town and Gown" complement each other in Charleston!

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Charleston are somewhat historic and bounded by the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Charleston is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Charleston, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

Charleston Information and Demographics

The population of Charleston is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 14.96% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 37.49% of adults in Charleston have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Charleston in 2000 was $22,414, which is wealthy relative to South Carolina, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $89,656 for a family of four.

Charleston is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Charleston home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Charleston is White, followed by African-American. Important ancestries of people in Charleston include English, German, Irish, Italian, Scotch-Irish, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Charleston is English. Some people also speak Spanish.