Regional Fact Sheet

• The Charleston region of South Carolina is comprised of Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties plus 26 incorporated municipalities. This geographic area is also known as the Charleston-North Charleston, S.C. metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
• The Charleston region is building globally recognized clusters of innovation in the aviation/aerospace, advanced security, automotive, biosciences and creative industries.
• The region's 2006 population of 603,178 is predicted to grow to nearly 624,000 by 2010. Charleston's 2000-2006 population growth rate of 9.9% surpasses that of both South Carolina (7.7%) and the United States (6.4%). (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
• The Charleston region's workforce grew 15.1% between 2000 and 2006, compared with 7.8% for the state of South Carolina and 6.2% nationally. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Bizjournals ranked the Charleston region fifth in the nation for per capita income (PCI) growth during the past 25 years, and second for PCI growth since 1995 (June 2007).
• Inc. magazine named the Charleston region a "Top U.S. City for Doing Business" in May 2007.
• Entrepreneur magazine listed the region among the nation's "Hot Cities for Entrepreneurs," ranking it second among mid-size metros in September 2006.
• fDi (a Financial Times publication) listed Charleston region as a "North American City of the Future" in April 2007.
• The Charleston region is home to a number of respected research institutions, including the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the Hollings Marine Laboratory, several National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offices, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) facility, and the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA).
• The U.S. military employs nearly 30,000 people in the region (active duty and civilian) and adds $3.5 billion to the local economy each year. Nearly all U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security agencies are represented in the Charleston region, and installations include the Space & Naval Warfare Systems Center Charleston (SPAWAR), the Charleston Air Force Base, the U.S. Coast Guard District 7, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and Federal Complex (FLETC/FC).
• The Port of Charleston is cited by customers as the most productive container port in the world. Readers of World Trade ranked it first in customer satisfaction among North American ports.
• For more than a decade, Charleston has been named a top 10 U.S. travel destinations by Condé Nast Traveler "Reader's Choice Poll." In 2006, more than five million people visited the region. Annually, the visitor industry adds more than $5 billion to the local economy.