Isle of Palms, SC population, income and ZIP codes

Isle of Palms city is a small town in South Carolina, with 4,350 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #109 of 475 ranked by population — larger than 77% of them. The median age here is 54.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Isle of Palms city earn a median of $148,029 a year, 88.5% above the national figure of $78,538 and 179% above the $53,071 median for the 263 South Carolina cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 1.8% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Isle of Palms city is valued at $1,192,200, 292.9% above the national figure and 573% above the $177,100 peer median, while median gross rent runs $3,236 a month, 130.2% above the national figure, or roughly $38,832 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 26.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 8.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 90.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, an owner-dominated market where rental listings are scarce and rent medians rest on a thin sample. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 8.1× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. A median age of 54.2 puts Isle of Palms city well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.