county

Dorchester County, SC

Demographic and economic profile of Dorchester County, SC, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Dorchester County has a population of 174,663 and grew 5.7% over five years, reflecting steady residential expansion in the Charleston metro area. The labor force participation rate stands at 64.6%, with 30.0% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher and a median worker earnings figure of $44,090 against a relatively low poverty rate of 11.5%. At a median home value of $294,400 and homeownership rate of 75.5%, the county skews residential, with a mean commute of 31.3 minutes suggesting many workers access employment centers outside the county.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

174,663

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$78,198

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

38.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+5.7% since 2018

Dorchester County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone103,549 (61.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone42,160 (25.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races6,633 (4.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race5,665 (3.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone5,135 (3.1%)
  • Asian Alone3,531 (2.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish7,074
  2. 2.Other Indo-European1,139
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)935
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic877
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic533

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

24.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

61.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

14.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

5.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

14,738

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$28,289

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$37,279

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

11.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance16,969
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)9,392
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services9,349
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)9,336
  5. 5.Construction (Group)6,909

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations31,240
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations16,018
  3. 3.Service Occupations12,481
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations12,283
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations7,872

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Public Administration (LQ 1.49×)5,526
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.28×)5,884
  3. 3.Manufacturing (LQ 1.21×)9,447
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.21×)6,533
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.14×)9,700

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$294,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,381/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

75.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,99913,348 (28.0%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9997,615 (16.0%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9995,875 (12.3%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9994,951 (10.4%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9994,744 (9.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,382 (2.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

30.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

64.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$44,090

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

2.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone62,467 (77.9%)
  • Worked At Home9,010 (11.2%)
  • Carpooled6,422 (8.0%)
  • Other972 (1.2%)
  • Walked654 (0.8%)
  • Bicycle257 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.