Charleston is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Charleston to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Charleston spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 16.96 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
In terms of college education, Charleston is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 33.10% of adults in Charleston have a college degree.
The per capita income in Charleston in 2022 was $28,162, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $112,648 for a family of four. However, Charleston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Charleston is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Charleston home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Charleston residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Charleston include German, Irish, English, Italian, and French.
The most common language spoken in Charleston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
