AreaProfile

29486Goose Creek, South Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 29486.

64
Area Score
Top 43% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 8% of 4,073 published ZIP areas80
GrowthTop 3% of 3,947 published ZIP areas82
Housing affordability2316th of 4,553 published ZIP areas75
ClimateTop 25% of 4,621 published ZIP areas77
Physical resilience3751st of 4,554 published ZIP areas22
Access4455th of 4,623 published ZIP areas53
Economic stability2461st of 4,591 published ZIP areas58
The quick read

29486 ranks in the top 8% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.1% and median household income of $89,578.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 561 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 43% on the prior year.

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

At a glance

Population
53,975
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$89,578
Top 27% nationally
Density
866/sq mi
62.3 sq mi of land
Median age
35.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Goose Creek
South Carolina
Metro area
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
Nearest major airport
CAE
80 mi · Columbia Metro
Median home value
$367,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 69% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 2.1% over the past year, to 25,555 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 73% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,925$89,578Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,055$38,950Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.7%Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute35.4 minTop 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher34.3%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment25,555Bottom 27%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)6.9%Top 2%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.1%Top 4%June 2026
Labor force26,649Bottom 27%June 2026
Labor force participation65.5%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$64,260Bottom 34%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,150Bottom 40%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 48%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 31%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202490k78k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $89,578 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 Goose Creek, SC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,748 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
23.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,748
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$367,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.10Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate78.0%Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±95821,508Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$50$1,748Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,398$367,700Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.4%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.3%Bottom 30%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
82/ 100
Top 3% of 3,947 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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 11.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
561
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
11.7
Top 7% nationally
Year over year
+43%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Goose Creek, 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 91°F and January a low of 39°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 52.5 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHARLESTON INTL AP, 15.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation52.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low39°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing33°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

22 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneHigh
EarthquakeModerate
Ice stormModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
LandslideModerate

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

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 80 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Columbia MetroCAE80 mi8,601 ft
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR82 mi9,503 ft
Savannah/Hilton Head IntlSAV90 mi9,351 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
64
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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)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

29486 vs Goose Creek

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

29486
Goose Creek
Median household income
$89,578
vs
$88,178
Per capita income
$38,950
vs
$39,296
Population density
866/sq mi
vs
1,108/sq mi
Median home value
$367,700
vs
$306,000
Median gross rent
$1,748
vs
$1,690
Homeownership rate
78.0%
vs
68.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher
34.3%
vs
29.7%
Poverty rate
12.7%
vs
6.5%
Median age
35.6
vs
34.0

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.