
South Carolina · FIPS 45035
Dorchester ZIP codes — Dorchester County, South Carolina
Quick answer
Dorchester County is home to 164,322 residents with a median household income of $76,896 and a median home value of $294,400. 75.4% of households own their home and 11.5% of residents live below the poverty line. Looking for a Dorchester ZIP code? 8 ZIP code areas fall inside Dorchester County, South Carolina, listed in full below.
- Population
- 164,322Dorchester County residents
- Median household income
- $76,896Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $294,400Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $1,381Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 37.9 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 75.4%Owner-occupied households
Dorchester County, SC in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
Dorchester County is a mid-size city in South Carolina, with 164,322 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates. The median age here is 37.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.
Households in Dorchester County earn a median of $76,896 a year, 2.1% below the national figure of $78,538. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 11.5% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in Dorchester County is valued at $294,400, 3% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,381 a month, 1.8% below the national figure, or roughly $16,572 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 21.6% 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 3.8×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 75.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.
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.
ZIP codes in Dorchester County
ZIP code tabulation areas whose land area falls mostly in Dorchester County.
How to read this page
What these estimates cover.
Figures are five-year rolling averages from the American Community Survey, not single-year counts, so they describe conditions across 2019-2023 ACS 5-year rather than a single date. Median home value covers owner-occupied units as valued by their owners, and median gross rent includes utilities the renter pays. Small counties carry wide margins of error; treat single-dollar differences between neighbouring counties as noise.
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year
Cities and towns in South Carolina
Largest Census places in South Carolina by population.
- Charleston city 152,014
- Columbia city 138,019
- North Charleston city 117,460
- Mount Pleasant town 92,662
- Rock Hill city 74,769
- Greenville city 71,755
- Summerville town 51,262
- Goose Creek city 46,964
- Sumter city 43,065
- Florence city 40,205
- Greer city 39,191
- Spartanburg city 38,578
Nearby counties
Other counties in South Carolina.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this area.
- What is the population of Dorchester County?
- Dorchester County has 164,322 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates.
- What is the median household income in Dorchester County?
- Median household income in Dorchester County is $76,896 a year, 2.1% below the national figure of $78,538.
- How much does it cost to rent or buy in Dorchester County?
- Median gross rent is $1,381 a month and the median home value is $294,400, so rent absorbs about 21.6% of median household income.
- Is Dorchester County affordable compared with the rest of the US?
- Homes cost about 3.8× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Dorchester County is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 21.6% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
- How current is this Dorchester County data?
- All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.