Charles City is a very small coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 4,797 people and three constituent neighborhoods, Charles City is the 161st largest community in Virginia.

Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Charles City is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 38.8% of the Charles City workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 24.7%. Overall, Charles City is a town of sales and office workers, production and manufacturing workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Charles City who work in office and administrative support jobs (16.34%), sales jobs (7.76%), and building maintenance and grounds keeping (5.58%).

One of the nice things about Charles City is that is it nautical, meaning that parts of the town are somewhat historic and on the ocean, or touch tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

In Charles City, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.45 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

Charles City is very much a car-oriented town. This is because the population of Charles City isn't large enough or dense enough to support an extensive public transit system. It has a lot of rural roads, and the distance between houses can be quite large, which together tends to discourage walking and bicycling to work. 96.86% of residents commute to work in their own car (and the drive is typically to a job out of town). People also tend to drive out of town for other services as well, such as shopping, doctors appointments, and more.

Being a small town, Charles City does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

Charles City Information and Demographics

In Charles City, just 10.20% of people have at least a bachelor's degree, which is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 14.96%.

The per capita income in Charles City in 2000 was $18,587, which is middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $74,348 for a family of four.

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

The most common language spoken in Charles City is English.