2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Charleston, SC

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Highlights
- Household income in Charleston, is 20% less than it is in Santa Cruz and is 10% above the National Average.
- Santa Cruz unemployment rate is 4.5%.
- Charleston unemployment rate is 4.0%.
 Santa Cruz, CACharleston, SCUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock4.0%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock0.7%1.6%
 Future Job Growth33.8%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes9.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock7.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$46,720  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$76,556$69,021
 Family Median Income$145,326  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Santa Cruz, CACharleston, SCUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock9.1%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.6%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock5.8%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.9%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock7.2%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K3.8%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock9.6%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K9.2%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock18.6%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K11.5%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock11.6%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Santa Cruz, CACharleston, SCUnited States
 Management, business, finance17.4%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock7.9%6.5%
 Community, social services2.9%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.8%1.2%
 Education, library10.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock3.0%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock1.5%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.3%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock6.7%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.2%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.4%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support18.1%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.2%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair3.3%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock7.1%13.1%
Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 5 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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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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