Charleston-N. Charleston MSA

Population and Demographics1
Population	2000	2006	% change 2000-2006	2010 projection
Charleston-N. Charleston MSA	549,033	603,178	9.9%	623,680
Population by Age	2000	2006
19 or younger	29.2%	28.1%
20-24	7.7%	7.2%
25-34	14.7%	13.3%
35-54	29.5%	29.0%
55-64	8.5%	11.5%
65+	10.4%	10.9%
Median Age	33.9	35.7
Population by Gender	2000	2006
Male	49.1	48.5%
Female	50.9	51.5%
Population by Race	2000	2006
White	65.1%	65.8%
Black or African-American	30.8%	29.4%
Asian	1.3%	1.6%
Other	2.8%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)2	2.4%	2.9%
Households	2000	2006
Total Households	207,957	234,389
Median Household Income	$39,491	$46,421
Average Household Income	$51,315	$64,131
Educational Attainment	2000	2006
High school diploma (or equivalent) or higher	81.3%	87%
Bachelors degree or higher	25%	28.6%
Advanced degree	8.7%	9.9%

Notes & Sources:
(1) U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey and 2000 Census; 2010 population projections from SC Budget and Control Board, Office of Research & Statistics
(2) Persons of Hispanic/Latino origin may be of any race

Household Growth Rate 2000-2006

	Charleston MSA	South Carolina	United States
Households (2006)	234,389	1,656,978	111,617,402
Household Growth Rate 2000-2006	12.7%	8.0%	5.8%
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2006

Household Income Growth: 2000-2006

	Median Household Income (2000)	Median Household Income (2006)	Median Percent Growth 2000-2006	Average Household Income (2000)	Average Household Income (2006)	Average Percent Growth 2000-2006
Charleston MSA	$39,491	$46,421	17.5%	$51,312	$64,131	25.0%
South Carolina	$37,082	$41,100	10.8%	$48,349	$55,128	14.0%
United States	$41,994	$48,451	15.4%	$56,643	$65,527	15.7%
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2006

Charleston is a top 10 U.S. metro in terms of percentage growth of college-educated residents (census 1990 to 2000 comparisons). This parallels a significant increase in household income.

Increase in Educational Attainment 1990-2000

Top 10 U.S. Metros	Change in BA/BS or Higher	Income Growth
San Francisco, CA	8.70%	21.50%
San Jose, CA	7.9	18.1
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, NC	7.2	13.1
Boston, MA	7.2	12.3
Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, NJ	7.2	9.4
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC	6.9	17.9
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI	6.4	15
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA	6.4	14.5
Charleston-North Charleston, SC	6.1	17.9
Baltimore, MD	6.1	9.3
National Median	3.7	12.5
Source: CEOs for Cities

The percentage of Charleston area residents holding at least a bachelor's degree is higher than that for the U.S. overall.

2006 Educational Attainment / % of Population 25+

	United States	South Carolina	Charleston MSA
High school diploma or equivalent or higher	84.1%	81.3%	86.5%
Hold a bachelors degree or higher	27.0%	22.7%	28.3%
Hold an advanced degree	9.9%	7.9%	9.1%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2006

Greater Charleston's growing international community is reflected in the increasing numbers of foreign-born residents. Although these residents made up the smallest component of population growth between 2000 and 2005, they accounted for 10.2% of the area's overall population increase. This is in keeping with Charleston's expanding base of foreign-owned companies.