South Carolina · Charleston
Charleston Feasibility Studies
Charleston-North Charleston, the South Carolina metro of Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties, saw apartment vacancy fall further in 2025 than any U.S. market but one, by Cushman & Wakefield's ranking 6. Colliers' Charleston industrial report counts more than 3.46 million square feet absorbed from the end of 2025 through Q2 2026, with small-bay flex vacancy at 0.61% 8. Visitors to the Charleston area produced a record $14.3 billion economic impact in 2025 by the College of Charleston's count, in a year when hotel room nights sold slipped slightly 5.
436,200 residents in Charleston County, 274,666 in Berkeley and 178,397 in Dorchester on July 1, 2025.
Charleston-North Charleston held 889,263 residents on July 1, 2025, by a Wikipedia list of South Carolina's statistical areas that compiles the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates 2.
QuickFacts, the Bureau's own county table, counts each of the three counties on the same date: Charleston County at 436,200 residents; inland Berkeley County at 274,666; and Dorchester County at 178,397 1.
The same QuickFacts rows give each county's change from the April 2020 census to July 1, 2025: Charleston County up 6.8%, Berkeley County up 19.5% and Dorchester County up 10.6% 1. Of those three changes over the same period, from April 2020 to July 2025, Berkeley's is the largest 1. The county rows and the metro total are all Vintage 2025 estimates for July 1, 2025, and the table below sets them side by side with the source each comes from.
Across the three counties, the median value of an owner-occupied home was $377,500 in the 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate 15.
June 2026 metro payrolls, March 2026 Charleston County jobs and wages, and a $14.3 billion tourism year.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce counted 433,300 nonfarm jobs across the three counties in June 2026, 400 more than in June 2025 3. The agency puts that change at 0.1% over the year to June 2026 3.
Charleston County has a federal file of its own. The Bureau of Labor Statistics put covered employment there at 285,447 in March 2026, with an average weekly wage of $1,492 4, and ranked the county's year-over-year job gain the largest among South Carolina's large counties 4. Covered employment in Charleston County rose 1.3% from March 2025 to March 2026 4. The county's average weekly wage rose 5.7% over the same year to March 2026 4. This page carries that quarterly federal series for Charleston County only, not for Berkeley or Dorchester. Its figures describe jobs located in Charleston County; the income measures that follow describe the residents of all three counties.
Two income measures cover the three counties together. Per capita personal income from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which averages over every resident, came to $73,578 in calendar 2024 16, and the 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate of median household income is $85,254 15.
Tourism's economic impact set a record in 2025. A Post and Courier report on the College of Charleston Office of Tourism Analysis puts that impact at $14.3 billion for the year 5, with average spending of $1,212 per visitor stay 5. The same report counts 7.9 million visitors to Charleston in 2025 5. The figure is an impact estimate from a university tourism office, carried by a newspaper, rather than a count of receipts.
The neighbouring port market is read on our Savannah page, and York, Lancaster and Chester, the South Carolina counties of the Charlotte metro, are read on our Charlotte page.
A sharp fall in apartment vacancy, a small-bay vacancy reading from Colliers, and a hotel workforce counted for 2023.
Apartments: a vacancy drop only one U.S. market beat
Cushman & Wakefield's Q4 2025 preliminary figures count 70,291 units in Charleston, with 3,208 delivered during 2025 and 2,277 under construction at year-end 6. Over the same year its vacancy reading fell 260 basis points, which the firm's national report ranked the second-largest decline of any U.S. market 6. Its Charleston vacancy stood at 10.2% in Q4 2025, on preliminary figures 6. A year earlier, in Q4 2024, the same firm's reading was 12.8% 6. Both readings come from the firm's national report for Q4 2025. MMG Real Estate Advisors' Q3 2025 pipeline report, from a different publisher and quarter, names where pipeline projects concentrate: Clements Ferry Road and Point Hope Parkway in Cainhoy, Nexton at Summerville, and upper King and Meeting streets on the peninsula 9.
Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic publishes a second inventory and vacancy reading. It counts 99,226 units in Q3 2025, a universe that includes manufactured-home parks, with vacancy at 8.98% and an average asking rent of $1,769.67 per unit across all classes 7. The two firms count different inventories in different quarters, and their vacancy levels do not reconcile; neither is adjusted to the other here. The Census survey describes the renters themselves: 103,933 renter households in the 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate 15, and a median gross rent of $1,605 for renter-occupied units paying cash rent in the same 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate 15. How a lender tests lease-up against those inventories is on our multifamily feasibility page.
Industrial: Colliers' Q2 2026 absorption and small-bay vacancy
Colliers reports 1,028,888 square feet of industrial absorption in Q2 2026 and more than 3.46 million square feet since the end of 2025, with vacancy down 121 basis points in the quarter and 362 basis points over the half-year 8. For small-bay flex space of 20,000 to 50,000 square feet, Colliers put vacancy at 0.61% 8. The same report notes that the Leatherman Terminal was set to pause operations in August 2026 8.
Hotels: room nights and occupancy slightly down, average daily rate up
The Post and Courier's report on the college's analysis found that room nights sold and occupancy were both slightly down in 2025 and that average daily rate was up 5. The report gives the direction of each measure, and it comes from a university tourism office rather than a hotel data vendor. County Business Patterns counted 7,657 employees in 2023 at hotels (except casino hotels) and motels in the Charleston-North Charleston metro area 14, a count of jobs in existing hotels rather than of rooms. Through the third quarter of 2025, Greenville Business Magazine, citing Colliers South Carolina, put Charleston hotel occupancy at 70.1% and the average daily rate at $168.41 21.
Self-storage and seniors: counts of establishments and of residents
County Business Patterns counted 73 establishments in 2023 (County Business Patterns) among lessors of miniwarehouses and self-storage units in the three counties 14; County Business Patterns counts establishments, meaning locations with paid employees, not facilities or rentable space, and the self-storage page covers the rest of that study. For senior housing this page holds a count of people rather than of beds: the Census survey counts 137,050 residents aged 65 and over in the 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate 15.
| Class | Measure | Value | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multifamily (Cushman & Wakefield basis) | Inventory; delivered in 2025; under construction | 70,291; 3,208; 2,277 units | Q4 2025 (preliminary) | 6 |
| Multifamily (CBC Atlantic basis, manufactured-home parks included) | Inventory; vacancy; asking rent per unit | 99,226 units; 8.98%; $1,769.67 | Q3 2025 | 7 |
| Industrial (Colliers) | Absorption in the quarter | 1,028,888 sq ft | Q2 2026 | 8 |
| Industrial (Colliers) | Absorption since the end of 2025 | More than 3.46 million sq ft | End of 2025 to Q2 2026 | 8 |
| Industrial (Colliers) | Small-bay flex vacancy | 0.61% | Q2 2026 | 8 |
| Hotel | Room nights and occupancy; average daily rate | Slightly down; up | 2025 | 5 |
Berkeley's residential impact fees of $2,200 for water and $2,850 for sewer per unit, a $12,060 Charleston Water System house connection, and Charleston County on a wind pool list.
Berkeley County Water & Sanitation's current rate schedule sets a residential sewer impact fee of $2,850 per equivalent residential unit 10. The same schedule sets a residential water impact fee of $2,200 per equivalent residential unit 10. Each is the charge for a residential connection; the research found no commercial schedule from the provider, so this page holds no Berkeley figure for a hotel, restaurant or car wash.
Charleston Water System's charge reached the research through a 2026 Utility Cost Guide table on Greenville Water and ReWa fees, whose comparison row gives a new-home connection on a 3/4 inch meter at $12,060 11. That is a whole connection for one house on one meter size; the Berkeley figure is a sewer fee per unit. Neither says that building costs more in one county than in the other.
Charleston County is on a secondary source's list of the coastal wind pool's counties 20; the pool itself is set out on our South Carolina page.
Provident with 89 Charleston-area loans under 504 and Certified Development Corp. of SC with 39, fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2026.
SBA Loan Index's Charleston lender page credits Provident Business Financial Services with 89 Charleston-area loans under 504, for $88.6 million, and Certified Development Corp. of SC with 39 loans for $31.1 million, each summed from fiscal 2010 through fiscal 2026 12. Both companies lend under 504, which the SBA administers under SOP 50 10 8.1 with Technical Policy Updates 18.
The SBA's own loan-level data count 1,067 loans approved in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, net of cancellations, for projects in the Charleston-North Charleston metro area, totaling $641.9 million under the 7(a) program 13, across every industry.
SBA's South Carolina District page lists Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester among the counties its Charleston virtual office serves 19.
The rule on studies is 13 CFR 120.160(b): SBA may require professional appraisals, a survey, or a feasibility study 17. The program tests are on our SBA 7(a) and 504 practice page.
The South Carolina hotel case puts its subject's stabilized occupancy and rate below Charleston's high-end strength.
No published case has its subject in Berkeley, Charleston or Dorchester County. The South Carolina hotel case under SBA 504 places its subject on a coastal, interstate tourism corridor in South Carolina. Its page puts the subject's stabilized occupancy and rate below Charleston's high-end strength and in line with the Grand Strand's rate structure, and it carries a Charleston occupancy and rate through the third quarter of 2025. The Cape Coral dry-stack case, a Florida boat storage project tested against SBA 504, lists a Charleston marina as a reference in its table of storage rates.
Leatherman's August 2026 pause, Berkeley's residential fee schedule and four other Charleston checks.
Whether Leatherman is operating on the study date
Colliers' Q2 2026 report gave the terminal as set to pause operations in August 2026 8; an industrial, chassis or truck-service study states the terminal's status on the day it is dated.
Manufactured-home park space in CBC Atlantic's count
How much of CBC Atlantic's 99,226 units, and of its 8.98% vacancy, is park space rather than apartments, when a workforce or manufactured-housing site leans on that report 7.
Berkeley's charge for a commercial connection
The provider's own figure for a hotel, restaurant or car wash on Berkeley County Water & Sanitation's system, since the $2,200 water and $2,850 sewer impact fees on this page are each per equivalent residential unit for residential connections and the research found no commercial schedule 10.
Small-bay flex or big-box space
Proof that a flex or contractor-yard subject's bays fall in the small-bay segment Colliers measured, not in big-box space 8.
Rooms in the hotel subject's competitive set
A room count for each hotel in the subject's competitive set, since the County Business Patterns hotel figure on this page counts the people employed at hotels and motels in 2023, not their rooms 14.
Charleston Water System's charge for the subject's meter
The utility's own charge for the meter size the building needs, since the $12,060 is a comparison row for a new home on a 3/4 inch meter 11.
Charleston apartment vacancy fell 260 basis points in 2025, and Colliers gave a separate reading for small-bay flex space.
What do the Charleston job counts show for 2026?
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce counted 433,300 nonfarm jobs across Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties in June 2026, 400 more than a year earlier 3. For Charleston County alone, the Bureau of Labor Statistics put covered employment at 285,447 in March 2026 and ranked the county's year-over-year gain the largest among South Carolina's large counties 4.
How fast did Charleston's apartment vacancy fall in 2025?
Fast enough to rank second among U.S. markets: Cushman & Wakefield's Q4 2025 preliminary figures show a 260 basis point decline on an inventory of 70,291 units, with 3,208 units delivered in 2025 and 2,277 under construction at year-end 6. Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic's Q3 2025 report, on 99,226 units that include manufactured-home parks, puts vacancy at 8.98% and asking rent at $1,769.67 per unit 7. MMG Real Estate Advisors places the pipeline in Cainhoy, in Nexton and on the upper peninsula 9.
How tight is Charleston's small-bay flex space?
Colliers put small-bay flex vacancy at 0.61% in Q2 2026 8. Across the industrial market it recorded 1,028,888 square feet of absorption in that quarter and more than 3.46 million since the end of 2025, with vacancy down 121 basis points in the quarter and 362 over the half-year 8.
Did Charleston hotels sell more room nights in 2025?
No. The College of Charleston's tourism analysis, as the Post and Courier reported it, found that room nights sold and occupancy were slightly down in 2025 and average daily rate was up 5. The same analysis put tourism's 2025 economic impact at a record $14.3 billion, with spending averaging $1,212 per visitor stay 5.
What does Berkeley County charge for a sewer connection?
Berkeley County Water & Sanitation's current schedule sets a residential sewer impact fee of $2,850 per equivalent residential unit, and the research found no commercial schedule from the provider 10. Charleston Water System, the other provider on this page, appears in the record through a 2026 Utility Cost Guide comparison row, which gives its new-home connection on a 3/4 inch meter at $12,060 11.
Which certified development companies does SBA Loan Index credit with Charleston-area 504 lending?
SBA Loan Index's Charleston lender page credits Provident Business Financial Services with 89 Charleston-area loans under 504, for $88.6 million, and Certified Development Corp. of SC with 39 loans for $31.1 million, both cumulative over fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2026 12.
When 2025 ended, Cushman & Wakefield counted 2,277 Charleston apartments under construction.
That count is the firm's preliminary figure for the fourth quarter of 2025. An apartment study dated later in 2026 asks how many of those units have since been delivered, and when the rest are due to open, before it sets a lease-up schedule for the subject.
Request a methodology briefingData sources and dates.
Berkeley County Water & Sanitation's rate page is the one provider schedule here; the Charleston Water System figure is a comparison row in a Greenville fee guide. The tourism figures are the College of Charleston's findings as a newspaper reported them, and the apartment and industrial readings belong to four brokers whose inventories and quarters differ. The register's SBA, Census and BEA counts are drawn for Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties together.
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Berkeley, Dorchester, Charleston counties, South Carolina, retrieved October 2026 (population estimates as of July 1, 2025).
- Wikipedia (citing Census V2025), South Carolina statistical areas, page undated; accessed October 2026 (estimate as of July 1, 2025).
- SC Department of Employment and Workforce, South Carolina's Employment Situation: June 2026, July 21, 2026 (June 2026 data).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, County Employment and Wages in South Carolina - First Quarter 2026, September 2026 (March 2026 data).
- Post and Courier, Charleston tourism hits record $14.3B economic impact (citing College of Charleston Office of Tourism Analysis), 2026 (calendar 2025 data).
- Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat U.S. Multifamily Q4 2025, early 2026 (Q4 2025 preliminary data).
- Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic, Q3 2025 Charleston Multi-Family Market Report, October 2025 (Q3 2025 data).
- Colliers, Charleston Industrial Market Report, 2026 Q2, July 29, 2026 (Q2 2026 data).
- MMG Real Estate Advisors, Charleston Q3 2025 Pipeline Report, page undated; accessed October 2026 (Q3 2025 data).
- Berkeley County Water & Sanitation, Rates & Fees, current schedule, as of October 12, 2026.
- Utility Cost Guide, Greenville Water & ReWa Tap and Capacity Fees (2026) (Charleston comparison row), 2026.
- SBA Loan Index (secondary), SBA lenders in Charleston, SC, page undated; accessed October 2026 (fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2026 cumulative).
- U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Capital Access, 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level data, loan status as of June 30, 2026 (approval fiscal years 2016 to 2025); retrieved October 16, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns (Census Data API), 2023 (employment for the pay period including March 12, 2023); retrieved October 16, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Detailed Tables (Census Data API), 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates; retrieved October 16, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Personal Income by County, Metro, and Other Areas (Regional table CAINC1), calendar year 2024; retrieved October 16, 2026.
- eCFR, 13 CFR 120.160, Loan conditions, current to October 7, 2026.
- U.S. Small Business Administration, SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs, with Technical Policy Updates, effective October 1, 2026.
- U.S. Small Business Administration, South Carolina District, current as of October 2026.
- StillInsurable (secondary), South Carolina Wind Pool & FAIR Plan, May 2026.
- Greenville Business Magazine (secondary, citing Colliers South Carolina), South Carolina's $30 Billion Tourism Industry Revs Up for a Notable 2026, undated (2025 through Q3 figures).