LivingCostFacts / county

Dorchester County, SC: cost of living

Compare HUD rent benchmarks with household income in Dorchester County, South Carolina. These figures describe area-wide conditions rather than a personal budget.

Charleston-North Charleston, SC metro RPP: 101.0 (BEA 2024; U.S. = 100). Regional context, not a county-specific price estimate.

BEA 2024 · HUD FY2027 · ACS 2020–2024 · CPI through 2026-10

$1,884
2BR monthly rent

HUD FY2027

28.9%
Rent / household income

Annual 2BR FMR ÷ ACS median income

$78,198
Median household income

ACS 2020–2024

$329,300
Median home value

Owner-occupied homes, ACS 2020–2024

Read the local picture

Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD’s estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality rental homes occupied by recent movers. It includes rent and most tenant-paid utilities. A household’s actual rent can differ substantially by neighborhood, lease and property.

2BR rent: county vs state vs US

HUD FY2027 monthly gross FMR. State and U.S. values are population-weighted county means. Dollars per month.

  1. Dorchester County$1,884
  2. South Carolina$1,391
  3. United States$1,761
0$1,884

Put the benchmark in context

The rent-to-income comparison uses 12 months of the 2BR FMR divided by median household income. It compares different vintages and all household types; it is not the share of renter households that are cost burdened.

Annual income vs annual 2BR rent

ACS 2020–2024 median household income and 12 × HUD FY2027 2BR FMR. Dollars per year; separate vintages and household groups.

  1. Median household income$78,198
  2. Annual 2BR rent$22,608
0$78,198

Income remaining after this rent benchmark is $55,590 per year, before taxes, food, transport, health care and other expenses.

This county or equivalent belongs to the Charleston-North Charleston, SC metro area. Its 2024 metro-wide all-items RPP is 101.0. A metro RPP is not a county-specific price estimate.

The data in view

Monthly rent by bedroom

HUD FY2027 gross monthly FMR; includes most tenant-paid utilities. Dollars per month.

  1. Studio$1,661
  2. 1 bedroom$1,731
  3. 2 bedrooms$1,884
  4. 3 bedrooms$2,336
  5. 4 bedrooms$2,687
0$2,687

Charleston-North Charleston, SC: RPP components

BEA 2024 regional context; each category is compared with its own U.S. = 100 benchmark. These are not county price estimates or spending shares.

  1. All items101.0
  2. Goods96.3
  3. Housing rents119.8
  4. Utilities88.2
  5. Other services98.3
0119.8

Black marker: U.S. benchmark = 100 in each row.

Monthly Fair Market Rent by bedroom

HUD 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality units; includes tenant-paid utilities except telephone, cable and internet. These are benchmarks, not asking-rent medians.

Home sizeFY2027 monthly gross rent
Studio$1,661
1 bedroom$1,731
2 bedrooms$1,884
3 bedrooms$2,336
4 bedrooms$2,687

Homeownership and population

Property taxes are for owner-occupied homes, not a renter charge. A + marks a Census top-coded estimate.

MeasureValue
Median annual real estate taxes paid$1,851
Population used for weighting (HUD pop2024)167,201

Compare rent and income

State and U.S. rents are population-weighted means of available county benchmarks; income is the published ACS median.

Area2BR rent / monthMedian household income
Dorchester County$1,884$78,198
South Carolina$1,391$69,324
United States$1,761$80,734