Work & commute · North Charleston

Work & commute in North Charleston, SC

About one in 3 of North Charleston’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Charleston (22%), Mount Pleasant (6%) and Summerville (4%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

34%

15,846 of 46,455 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 30,609 North Charleston residents head out of town to work, 15,846 work right here, and 90,004 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in North Charleston.

30,609live here, work elsewhere

15,846live and work here

90,004work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where North Charleston goes to work

North Charleston (in town)right here

34%15,846

Charleston8.2 mi away

22%10,276

Mount Pleasant14 mi away

6%2,919

Summerville8.9 mi away

4%1,641

Goose Creek6.3 mi away

2%967

Columbia91.2 mi away

2%903

Hanahan3.8 mi away

1%507

Greenville187 mi away

1%496

Ladson6.8 mi away

1%275

Florence88.6 mi away

0%225

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%12,400

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far North Charleston commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

58%

24%

17%

58%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

1%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

North Charleston is a job hub

2.28jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in North Charleston are

105,850 jobs are based in North Charleston. Here is what they are, next to the jobs North Charleston’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in North Charleston

105,850 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs North Charleston residents hold

46,455 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+27%

Jobs based in North Charleston, 2013 → 2023: 83,088 → 105,850. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.