Charleston-North Charleston migration, mapped
In 2022–23, 42,509 people moved into the Charleston metro and 32,275 moved out, a net of +10,234. Yellow arcs are people arriving, blue arcs are people leaving. Hover a dot to see the corridor, or click through to compare.
The map couldn’t load. The numbers below still tell the story.
† IRS methodology change in this year’s files (see methodology)
What the flows say
- Biggest published corridors: more arrivals come from New York, NY-NJ than anywhere else: 1,780 people in 2022–23. The top destination for leavers is Rest of South Carolina (2,135). The listed corridors cover about 49–52% of all flows; the totals count everyone.
- Trend: net inflow has strengthened over the last three years, from +7,357 in 2020–21 to +10,234 in 2022–23†.
Population · 2025
889,263
▲ 1.7% year over year · growing
Peak population
889,263
highest in the series shown (since 2000)
Why the population is changing
- Growth driver: domestic migration added more people than anything else: +9,911 in 2025, ahead of births minus deaths (+2,747) and international migration (+2,582).
- Peak population: the 2025 estimate of 889,263 is the highest on record, in data going back to 2000.
Net income flow · 2022–23
+$1.0B
▲ $2.5B arrived · $1.5B left
Avg household income · movers
$97k in · $75k out
arrivals out-earn leavers by 29%
Charleston wealth migration
- Money moved: households moving into the Charleston metro in 2022–23 reported $2.5B in income (AGI). Households leaving took $1.5B with them, a net gain of $1.0B.
- Income gap: the average household moving in reported $97k of income, vs $75k for leavers. Arrivals out-earn leavers by 29%.
About the data
Corridors are IRS county-to-county migration flows added up into metro areas (2023 Census metro definitions; exemptions ≈ people). "Rest of" entries cover a state's counties outside any featured metro. The IRS hides corridors with fewer than 20 returns, so the lists here cover about 52% of inbound and 49% of outbound movers in 2022–23. The in, out, and net totals count everyone. Income figures are the total income (AGI) movers reported, from the complete county totals. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation, and household averages divide by the number of returns. Population figures are Census Bureau estimates; the peak covers records since 2000. Years marked † had a change in how the IRS built the files. Full details on the methodology page.
Download this data (CSV), free to use with attribution.
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