Charleston is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Charleston area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Charleston maintain a good economy.
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 16.89 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
Being a small city, Charleston does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The education level of Charleston citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 34.16% of adults in Charleston have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Charleston in 2022 was $30,375, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $121,500 for a family of four. However, Charleston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Charleston is a somewhat 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 German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.
The most common language spoken in Charleston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
