James Island vs Kiawah Island

A side-by-side comparison of James Island and Kiawah Island: population, income, housing, and more.

James Island and Kiawah Island are places in South Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

James Island has the higher population (11,738 vs 2,196 in Kiawah Island). Kiawah Island has the higher median household income ($236,607 vs $100,176 in James Island). Kiawah Island has the higher median home value ($1,723,200 vs $454,200 in James Island).

Population, income & housing

	James Island	Kiawah Island
Population	11,738	2,196
Median age	41.3 yrs	66.0 yrs
Median household income	$100,176	$236,607
Median home value	$454,200	$1,723,200
Median gross rent	$1,443	—
Housing units	4,683	3,896
Homeownership rate	85.9%	98.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	48.0%	86.5%
Unemployment rate	1.4%	3.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	James Island	Kiawah Island
Population	12,076 → 11,738 (-2.8%)	1,676 → 2,196 (+31.0%)
Median household income	$81,674 → $100,176 (+22.7%)	$193,750 → $236,607 (+22.1%)
Median home value	$300,600 → $454,200 (+51.1%)	$1,532,800 → $1,723,200 (+12.4%)
Median gross rent	$1,374 → $1,443 (+5.0%)	$2,056 → $2,750 (+33.8%)

James Island

Population

12,07611,738

Median household income

$81,674$100,176

Median home value

$300,600$454,200

Median gross rent

$1,374$1,443

Kiawah Island

Population

1,6762,196

Median household income

$193,750$236,607

Median home value

$1,532,800$1,723,200

Median gross rent

$2,056$2,750

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	James Island	Kiawah Island
Under 5	6.3%	0.0%
5 to 17	16.0%	1.4%
18 to 24	3.7%	1.0%
25 to 34	6.8%	0.8%
35 to 44	21.9%	1.5%
45 to 54	15.3%	3.1%
55 to 64	12.9%	36.7%
65 to 74	8.4%	36.7%
75 and over	8.7%	18.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	James Island	Kiawah Island
White (non-Hispanic)	82.6%	98.1%
Black or African American	12.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.3%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.5%	0.5%
Hispanic or Latino	2.4%	0.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	James Island	Kiawah Island
No high school diploma	6.1%	1.0%
High school graduate	21.7%	2.1%
Some college or associate's	24.2%	10.4%
Bachelor's degree	32.1%	36.2%
Graduate or professional degree	15.9%	50.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	James Island	Kiawah Island
Drove alone	73.3%	37.3%
Carpooled	7.2%	1.5%
Public transit	0.3%	3.4%
Walked	1.5%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	15.1%	48.9%
Other means	2.3%	8.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	James Island	Kiawah Island
1-unit, detached	92.7%	68.4%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	3.3%
2 to 4 units	2.1%	2.6%
5 to 19 units	1.2%	22.5%
20 or more units	0.0%	2.7%
Mobile home & other	2.1%	0.5%

Poverty & households

	James Island	Kiawah Island
Poverty rate	5.4%	2.7%
Average household size	2.67	1.93
Mean commute (minutes)	23	33
Median year structure built	1971	1989