Sell Your Commercial Property In Charleston County, SC

Who rents in Charleston County

Renters head 64,625 of the 178,975 occupied households in Charleston County, a 36.1% share in the 2020-2024 ACS. Owners outnumber them, at 114,350 households. Across South Carolina, renters make up only 28.1% of households, so Charleston County skews more renter-heavy than the state.

That renter base concentrates unevenly. The city of Charleston holds 30,211 renter households, a 44.4% renter share. North Charleston runs even higher, at 50.2% renters among its 49,185 occupied homes. Mount Pleasant sits at the other end, with a 26.4% renter share and the highest household income of the three at $124,755.

Rents, growth and affordability

Charleston County's median gross rent climbed 36.1%, from $1,190 to $1,620, between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 surveys. Population grew far more slowly over the same span, up 4.8% to 420,264 residents, an increase of 19,099 people. Renter households rose 5.6%, adding 3,416 households.

Apartment supply grew faster than renters did. Units in 5+ unit buildings in Charleston County grew 24.0%, an increase of 9,478 units. That pace of new stock helps explain an 11.7% rental vacancy rate, below the 13.3% South Carolina rate but still loose by national standards.

Rent burden is heavy. In the 2020-2024 ACS, 53.4% of Charleston County renters paid 30% or more of income on gross rent, slightly above the 52.1% South Carolina rate. HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Charleston-North Charleston area is $1,884, effective October 1, 2026. That benchmark runs $264 above the county's $1,620 median gross rent.

City-by-city comparison

Mount Pleasant commands the highest rent of the three Charleston County cities, while North Charleston carries the largest renter share. Charleston sits between them on both measures but leads on apartment density.

Vacancy is tightest in North Charleston and Charleston, both near 9%, while Mount Pleasant runs loosest at 12.9%. Rent ranges from $1,430 in North Charleston to $2,159 in Mount Pleasant, a gap of $729 across towns that sit within a few miles of each other.

North Charleston pairs its lower rent with the county's highest renter share, a combination that often points to steadier lease-up for workforce-priced units. Mount Pleasant's smaller renter pool and higher vacancy fit a market dominated by ownership and higher household income.

Property taxes and assessment in Charleston County

South Carolina taxes income-producing real property, including apartment buildings, at a 6% assessment ratio under S.C. Code Section 12-43-220(e). Only an owner-occupied legal residence qualifies for the lower 4% ratio, so a rental building never gets it.

Charleston County reassesses property values every five years under Section 12-43-217(A), and Section 12-37-3140(B) caps any reassessment-driven increase at 15% over that five-year period. That cap does not apply the year a sale or other assessable transfer of interest occurs under Section 12-37-3150(A), so a purchase resets assessed value to the new price with no cap protection.

On the 2026 millage card, the Charleston County Auditor lists a 218.8-mill countywide base, with combined millage of 300.8 inside the City of Charleston, 310.3 inside North Charleston, and 263.1 inside the Town of Mount Pleasant. At the 6% ratio, a $2,000,000 apartment building in the City of Charleston carries roughly $36,096 in county and city millage before any district-specific credits. A deed transfer also triggers South Carolina's recording fee of $1.85 per $500 of value under Section 12-24-10(A).

What this means if you sell in Charleston County

When you sell commercial property in Charleston County, SC, you sell into a county where renters hold 36.1% of households and 23.3% of units sit in 5+ unit buildings. The 11.7% rental vacancy rate is the counterweight buyers will underwrite against. Expect buyers to test your rent roll against a North Charleston-style lease-up pace or a Mount Pleasant-style high-rent, lower-turnover profile, depending on where your building sits.

Taxes come next. Because Section 12-37-3140(B) strips the 15% cap in the year of an assessable transfer of interest, buyers underwrite the post-sale millage bill, not your current one. Rent control is not a factor anywhere in Charleston County, since S.C. Code Section 27-39-60 bars any county or municipality from regulating residential or commercial rent.

As a multifamily buyer in Charleston County, we review 5+ unit buildings from Charleston to Mount Pleasant as they stand today. Send a current rent roll, a T-12 and the latest tax bill, and we will price the building on those numbers.