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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Charleston, WV
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Charleston profile


Living in Charleston



Charleston is a medium-sized city located in the state of West Virginia. With a population of 47,129 people and 29 associated neighborhoods, Charleston is the largest community in West Virginia.

Also of interest is that Charleston has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Charleston telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 8.19% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

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 18.70 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.

The citizens of Charleston are among the most well-educated in the nation: 43.21% of adults in Charleston have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Charleston in 2018 was $44,639, which is wealthy relative to West Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $178,556 for a family of four. However, Charleston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Charleston is a very 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 English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scots-Irish.

The most common language spoken in Charleston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Arabic and Spanish.