2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Charleston, SC vs Lake Forest, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Lake Forest, is 53% more than it is in Charleston and is 41% above the National Average.
- Charleston unemployment rate is 4.0%.
- Lake Forest unemployment rate is 5.6%.
 Charleston, SCLake Forest, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock5.6%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock0.6%1.6%
 Future Job Growth35.9%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes9.0%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$50,240  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$117,374$69,021
 Family Median Income$106,321  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Charleston, SCLake Forest, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock4.9%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.6%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock2.9%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K7.4%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock4.1%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.2%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock6.9%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K12.3%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock19.0%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K8.7%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock22.5%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Charleston, SCLake Forest, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance21.3%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock11.3%6.5%
 Community, social services1.7%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.4%1.2%
 Education, library6.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.8%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology9.4%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.1%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.5%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock4.4%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.3%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock3.1%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support20.7%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.2%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair5.7%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock7.8%13.1%
Reviews for Charleston    76 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

Charleston is beautiful and unique and incredibly special. If you don't believe me, just ask Anthony Bourdain in his Parts Unknown episode - and he was an insightful  More

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Serious lack of health care and "good old boys club" whereby doctors will not even see the patient but diagnose them based on referring doctor. My sister died there for  More

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Over 5 years ago

Boy, has this once beautiful town changed...for the worse! I initially moved here 20 years ago because the people were so nice, no traffic, great choice of hospitals,  More

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Reviews for Lake Forest    16 Reviews

I've lived in Lake Forest for over a decade, before that elsewhere in OC and also up in LA. Lake Forest isn't perfect but it's really improved over the past decade,  More

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As a retired senior who has lived in Lake Forest (formerly El Toro) since 1977 I think LF is a great place if you can afford it. When we moved here in June '77 homes  More

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I’ve lived here for 2 years. Ok, it’s more like a 4 but there are so many idiots downplaying what it’s like here and giving Lake Forest ones and twos. There are a lot of  More

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