Charleston is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Charleston to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy.
One of the benefits of Charleston is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.89 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
Being a small city, Charleston does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The population of Charleston is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 34.16% of adults in Charleston have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Charleston in 2022 was $30,375, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $121,500 for a family of four. However, Charleston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Charleston is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Charleston home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Charleston residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Charleston include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.
The most common language spoken in Charleston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
