Charleston, TN population, income and ZIP codes

Charleston city is a very small community in Tennessee, with 816 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #324 of 504 ranked by population — larger than 35% of them. The median age here is 48.6 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 Charleston city earn a median of $72,208 a year, 8.1% below the national figure of $78,538 and 29% above the $55,988 median for the 307 Tennessee cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 7% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Charleston city is valued at $185,000, 39% below the national figure and 3% below the $191,100 peer median, while median gross rent runs $871 a month, 38.1% below the national figure, or roughly $10,452 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 14.5% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.6×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 78.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. 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.

With 816 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare Charleston city against its county rather than against national figures.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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.