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Where am ILOCATED

Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area

The Charleston-North Charleston, SC metro area is made up of 3 counties in South Carolina: Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester, largest first. About 889,263 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 11.2% more than in April 2020.

Berkeley County, centralCharleston County, centralDorchester County, centralCharlestonNorth Charleston
3 counties in South Carolina
Population, July 2025
889,263 11.2% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
3, all central
Land area
2,590 sq mi (6,708 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
South Carolina
CBSA code
16700
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Charleston CountyCentral436,20049.1%
Berkeley CountyCentral274,66630.9%
Dorchester CountyCentral178,39720.1%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. This area has no outlying counties: no neighboring county sends enough commuters to join it. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal cities, largest first

  1. Charleston154,338 people
  2. North Charleston119,913 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Orangeburg, SC Micro Area69 mi northwest
  2. Murrells Inlet, SC Micro Area73 mi northeast

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗