29420 — North Charleston, South Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 29420. Its median household income runs 15% above North Charleston as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 47% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 10% of 3,116 ZIP areas measured78
Schools2,093rd of 3,047 ZIP areas measured36
GrowthTop 25% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured64
Housing affordability2,217th of 3,112 ZIP areas measured57
ClimateTop 23% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured77
Physical resilience2,515th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured25
AccessTop 20% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured98
Economic stabilityTop 44% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured58
The quick read

29420 ranks in the top 10% of ZIP areas measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.7% and median household income of $72,661. The unemployment rate is published for North Charleston, SC, which contains 29420, rather than for 29420 alone.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.4 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,004 units authorized over the past twelve months, 34% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for North Charleston, SC, which contains 29420, rather than for 29420 alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
23,959
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$72,661
Top 49% nationally
Density
2,392/sq mi
10 sq mi of land
Median age
34.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
North Charleston
South Carolina
Nearest major airport
CHS
4 mi · Charleston AFB/Intl
Median home value
$331,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across North Charleston, SC, which contains 29420, is 3.7%, lower than in 75% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across North Charleston, SC, which contains 29420, grew 3.6% over the past year, to 67,522 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$5,7562024 ACS 5-Year$72,661Top 49%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,5952024 ACS 5-Year$39,165Top 42%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year12.4%Bottom 40%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year30.3 minBottom 37%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year32.4%Top 30%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%53rd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentNorth Charleston, SC’s figureJuly 202667,522Top 39%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)North Charleston, SC’s figureJuly 2026+8.7%Top 1%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)North Charleston, SC’s figureJuly 2026+3.6%Top 2%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceNorth Charleston, SC’s figureJuly 202670,14060th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year83.0%Top 29%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageCharleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$64,260Bottom 38%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageCharleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,150Bottom 44%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)North Charleston, SC’s figureJuly 2026−0.5%Top 25%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateNorth Charleston, SC’s figureJuly 20263.7%Top 25%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%62nd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202473k62k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $72,661 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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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 North Charleston, SC, the city containing this ZIP code.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.4 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
43.2%
Bottom 27% in South Carolina
Reading proficiency
49.8%
Bottom 29% in South Carolina
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Fort Dorchester HighDorchester 022,34417.568%82%
Pinehurst ElementaryCharleston 0175811.530%18%
River Oaks MiddleDorchester 0272813.224%38%
Northwoods MiddleCharleston 0170814.411%16%
Eagle Nest ElementaryDorchester 0265314.542%42%
Windsor Hill Arts Infused ElementaryDorchester 0262211.745%53%
Pepperhill ElementaryCharleston 0145313.717%15%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against South Carolina’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 1% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 101.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area is up 62% over five years, and up 4.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,039 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.61% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,790, some 17% above the $1,529 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,790 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $71,600 a year, about 99% of the median household income here of $72,661.

The typical renter household here spends 36% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,529 a month.

A median home at $331,700 costs 3.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $98,295, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
101.1

Prices here run about 1% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
36.0%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,790
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,529
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$331,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 29420’s median household income of $72,661, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area’s figure2023101.1Bottom 42%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.7%76th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+61.6%96th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+129.9%94th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.4Bottom 29%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year62.2%18th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6922024 ACS 5-Year9,95783rd percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,630Bottom 29%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,230Bottom 40%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,790Bottom 34%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1362024 ACS 5-Year$1,529Bottom 21%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,1762024 ACS 5-Year$331,70072nd percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2202024 ACS 5-Year$2,03952nd percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,7412024 ACS 5-Year$98,295Top 32%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.61%24th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year36.0%Bottom 16%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±262024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.4%32nd percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1942024 ACS 5-Year44271st percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

64/ 100
Top 25% of 3,124 published ZIP 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 8.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for North Charleston, SC, which contains 29420, rather than for 29420 alone.

Units permitted
1,004
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.4
Top 17% nationally
Year over year
−34%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
33.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for North 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 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, 4.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND7.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals52.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals33°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

25 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 48% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneHigh
EarthquakeModerate

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

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 offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
8.2
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
22.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
7.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 29420 (Dorchester County) rather than 29420 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. North Charleston carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Charleston AFB/Intl at 4 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year95.8%Top 16%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle4 miTop 6%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 40%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.3%Top 16%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Charleston AFB/IntlCHS4 mi9,001 ft
Savannah/Hilton Head IntlSAV85 mi9,351 ft
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR85 mi9,503 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
59
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

29420 vs North Charleston

How this ZIP area compares with North Charleston as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

29420
North Charleston
Median household income: 29420 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$72,661
vs
$62,956
Per capita income: 29420 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$39,165
vs
$36,019
Population density
2,392/sq mi
vs
1,538/sq mi
Median home value
$331,700
vs
$302,200
Median gross rent: North Charleston is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,529
vs
$1,430
Homeownership rate
62.2%
vs
49.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 29420 is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
32.4%
vs
28.6%
Poverty rate: 29420 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
12.4%
vs
14.1%
Median age
34.7
vs
34.6

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.