29403Charleston, South Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 29403.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 34% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 5% of 6,210 published ZIP areas83
Schools3313th of 4,422 published ZIP areas32
GrowthTop 6% of 5,428 published ZIP areas78
Housing affordability6615th of 6,685 published ZIP areas23
ClimateTop 15% of 6,789 published ZIP areas81
Physical resilience4979th of 6,709 published ZIP areas33
Access6596th of 6,791 published ZIP areas47
Economic stability5415th of 6,742 published ZIP areas40
The quick read

29403 ranks in the top 5% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $66,944.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,446 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 36% on the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, earthquake and coastal flooding.

At a glance

Population
22,533
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,944
Bottom 42% nationally
Density
4,174/sq mi
5.4 sq mi of land
Median age
30.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Charleston
South Carolina
Metro area
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
Nearest major airport
MYR
84 mi · Myrtle Beach Intl
Median home value
$674,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4% is lower than 89% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 2.1% over the past year, to 91,451 employed residents.

61% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 94% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$8,620$66,944Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,788$49,758Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate25.8%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute19.1 minBottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher60.9%Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment91,451Top 37%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.9%Top 3%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.1%Top 5%June 2026
Labor force94,631Top 37%June 2026
Labor force participation69.5%Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$64,260Bottom 34%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,150Bottom 39%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 36%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.4%Bottom 11%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202467k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,944 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Charleston-North Charleston, SC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons11,930$34,090
Fast Food and Counter Workers10,850$28,500
Registered Nurses9,760$92,800
Waiters and Waitresses9,580$19,340
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand8,100$38,090
Cashiers7,960$30,130

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Charleston, SC, the city containing this ZIP code.

21% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 30% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 9.2 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
9.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
21.2%
Bottom 13% in South Carolina
Reading proficiency
30.4%
Bottom 19% in South Carolina
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Charleston Charter School for Math and Science · charterCharleston 0157311.922%47%
James Simons MontessoriCharleston 0139214.535%34%
Sanders-Clyde ElementaryCharleston 013699.216%11%
Burke HighCharleston 013425.6
Simmons Pinckney MiddleCharleston 011907.63%22%
Mitchell ElementaryCharleston 011888.221%6%
Charleston ProgressiveCharleston 011848.828%28%
Charleston Development Academy · charterCharleston 0115110.810%50%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against South Carolina’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,798 takes 32% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 10.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
32.2%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
10.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,798
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$674,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income10.07Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate32.9%Bottom 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±61913,460Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$119$1,798Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$51,231$674,000Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income32.2%Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate19.3%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
78/ 100
Top 6% of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

At 9.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
1,446
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.4
Top 13% nationally
Year over year
+36%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
46.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Charleston, SC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.3 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHARLESTON CITY, 1.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index58.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation44.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index43.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing32°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

33 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and coastal flooding.

Coastal floodingHigh
HurricaneHigh
EarthquakeElevated

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, wildfire, lightning, inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, heat wave, strong wind, tornado, hail, landslide, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Charleston County records 6.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 13.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.4 per 100,000 residents in Charleston County.

Homicide
6.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
21.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
16.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Charleston County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 29403 rather than 29403 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 84 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR84 mi9,503 ft
Savannah/Hilton Head IntlSAV87 mi9,351 ft
Columbia MetroCAE104 mi8,601 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
56
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

29403 vs Charleston

How this ZIP area compares with Charleston as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

29403
Charleston
Median household income
$66,944
vs
$92,414
Per capita income
$49,758
vs
$59,875
Population density
4,174/sq mi
vs
1,339/sq mi
Median home value
$674,000
vs
$509,700
Median gross rent
$1,798
vs
$1,722
Homeownership rate
32.9%
vs
55.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
60.9%
vs
58.3%
Poverty rate
25.8%
vs
12.3%
Median age
30.0
vs
36.6

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.