Port Royal is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 16,287 people and two associated neighborhoods, Port Royal is the 34th largest community in South Carolina. Port Royal has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in Port Royal, where the median household income is $70,330.00. Port Royal real estate is some of the most expensive in South Carolina, although Port Royal house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.The armed forces are a huge part of the life in Port Royal, employing 11.90% of the workforce. While it is a military town, the civilian sector still plays an important role in the local economy, where the Retail and Healthcare industries employ 24.19% and 22.16% of the civilian workforce, respectively. Also of interest is that Port Royal has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 9.19% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Port Royal is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities. One of the benefits of Port Royal is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.00 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result. Being a small town, Port Royal does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.The education level of Port Royal citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 37.27% of adults in Port Royal have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Port Royal in 2022 was $32,843, which is upper middle income relative to South Carolina, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $131,372 for a family of four. However, Port Royal contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Port Royal is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Port Royal home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Port Royal residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Port Royal also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 17.29% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Port Royal include English, Irish, German, Italian, and French. The most common language spoken in Port Royal is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Vietnamese.
