Best PlacesCharleston Historic District, Charleston, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Charleston Historic District, Charleston, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Charleston Historic District, Charleston ranks 1,462nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Charleston Historic District, Charleston
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Charleston Historic District, Charleston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Charleston Historic District, Charleston ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Household income$180,563 median, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
Where Charleston Historic District, Charleston ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Charleston Historic District, Charleston
A household needs to earn about $452,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Charleston Historic District, Charleston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $180,563, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Charleston Historic District, Charleston's effective rate of 0.54%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Charleston Historic District, Charleston
Charleston Historic District, Charleston runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Charleston Historic District, Charleston.
Who works in Charleston Historic District, Charleston, and how
Work in Charleston Historic District, Charleston centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 45%
- Work from home 37%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Charleston Historic District, Charleston
The coast is about 14 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Charleston Historic District, Charleston, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Charleston Historic District, Charleston, month by month
Charleston Historic District, Charleston sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 76° | 66° | 58° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 79° | 69° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Charleston Historic District, Charleston
Charleston AFB/International sits about 10 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.2 million passengers in 2025, with 95 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Charleston Historic District, Charleston
Schools across Charleston Historic District, Charleston average a C, better than 41% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Montessori Community SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Simmons Pinckney MiddleF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Burke HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Charleston Historic District, Charleston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Charleston Historic District, Charleston measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Charleston Historic District, Charleston against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Charleston Historic District, Charleston
Is Charleston Historic District, Charleston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Charleston Historic District, Charleston ranks 1,462nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on health care access, high incomes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Charleston Historic District, Charleston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,793,032. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $180,563 median income, cost of living beats 95% of neighborhoods.
Is Charleston Historic District, Charleston safe?
Charleston Historic District, Charleston is safer than 19% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $944 per resident a year.
Compare Charleston Historic District, Charleston with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Charleston Historic District, Charleston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Charleston Historic District, Charleston represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Charleston Historic District, Charleston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Charleston Historic District, Charleston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Charleston Historic District, Charleston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Charleston Historic District, Charleston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Charleston Historic District, Charleston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Charleston Historic District, Charleston detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.