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Towns / South Carolina

Sullivan's Island, South Carolina

Sullivan's Island is a suburb of about 2,000 people in Charleston County, South Carolina, in the Charleston area. It has grown about 3% since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Charlotte, is about 178 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Charleston

Population
1,961
up 3.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$2,000,000 or more
Charleston County prices up 25% since 2022
Household income
$192,813
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Charleston area
101
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
4 miles
Mount Pleasant, SC
To Charlotte
178 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 1% above the U.S. average in the Charleston-North Charleston metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Sullivan's Island to say.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 7.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Lucy Garrett Beckham High, about 4 miles away.
  • A hospital close byNovant Health East Cooper Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, about 4 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityCharlotte is about 178 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Sullivan's Island meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Sullivan's Island runs into the built-up area around Charleston (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$2,000,000 or moreU.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 25%Charleston County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$192,813U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
85%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,533 a yearSouth Carolina: $1,251
Homes built before 1940
27%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
15%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
18%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
101U.S. average = 100 (the Charleston-North Charleston metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 25% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Charleston-North Charleston metro area, not Sullivan's Island alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,9612020: 1,898
Median age
52.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
28%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Professional and business services (27%); schools, health care and social services (21%); finance, insurance and real estate (19%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
14%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Novant Health East Cooper Medical Center, Mount Pleasant, SC, about 4 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Sullivan's Island, run by Charleston 01. The nearest public high school is Lucy Garrett Beckham High, about 4 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on South Carolina's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with any internet subscription
95%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
36°F
July average high
91°F
Days 90°F or hotter
55 a year
Nights at or below freezing
18 a year
Rain and melted snow
52.5 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
2 feet

Weather stations: Sullivans Is (2 miles away) and Charleston Intl Ap (15 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Novant Health East Cooper Medical Center, Mount Pleasant, Charlotte.

Charleston County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Atlanticville Historic District, the Fort Moultrie Quartermaster and Support Facilities Historic District, Fort Sumter National Monument (Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation) and the Moultrieville Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park1 mile
  • Charles Pinckney National Historic Site5 miles
  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park51 miles

Read about Sullivan's Island's history on Wikipedia.

Know Sullivan's Island?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.