2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Charleston, SC vs Palo Alto, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Palo Alto, is 154% more than it is in Charleston and is 65% above the National Average.
- Charleston unemployment rate is 4.0%.
- Palo Alto unemployment rate is 3.5%.
 Charleston, SCPalo Alto, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock3.5%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock2.5%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$194,782$69,021
 Family Median Income$106,321  Unlock$85,028
 space
 Est. Households By Income
 Charleston, SCPalo Alto, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock5.2%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.6%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock3.1%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K7.4%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock2.9%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.2%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock4.6%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K12.3%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock12.8%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K8.7%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock49.5%9.5%
 space1
 Population By Occupation
 Charleston, SCPalo Alto, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance21.3%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock29.0%6.5%
 Community, social services1.7%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock3.7%1.2%
 Education, library6.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock3.5%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology9.4%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock1.1%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.5%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock1.6%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.3%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.3%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support20.7%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.1%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair5.7%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock2.5%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 Palo Alto    8 Reviews

The Bay Area in general, but Palo Alto specifically provides many of the qualities sought by many; the climate is beautiful, there is access to cultural and recreational  More

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Over 17 years ago

Very  More

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Over 18 years ago

VTA and SamsTrans and Caltrain all provide good service and most times frequency of service is  More

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