James Island vs Sullivan's Island

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

James Island and Sullivan's 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 2,127 in Sullivan's Island). Sullivan's Island has the higher median household income ($179,614 vs $100,176 in James Island). Sullivan's Island has the higher median home value ($2,000,001 vs $454,200 in James Island).

Population, income & housing

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
Population	11,738	2,127
Median age	41.3 yrs	52.9 yrs
Median household income	$100,176	$179,614
Median home value	$454,200	$2,000,001
Median gross rent	$1,443	$2,402
Housing units	4,683	1,078
Homeownership rate	85.9%	84.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	48.0%	87.2%
Unemployment rate	1.4%	1.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
Population	12,076 → 11,738 (-2.8%)	2,203 → 2,127 (-3.4%)
Median household income	$81,674 → $100,176 (+22.7%)	$136,528 → $179,614 (+31.6%)
Median home value	$300,600 → $454,200 (+51.1%)	$1,773,100 → $2,000,001 (+12.8%)
Median gross rent	$1,374 → $1,443 (+5.0%)	$2,167 → $2,402 (+10.8%)

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

Sullivan's Island

Population

2,2032,127

Median household income

$136,528$179,614

Median home value

$1,773,100$2,000,001

Median gross rent

$2,167$2,402

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
Under 5	6.3%	2.0%
5 to 17	16.0%	15.5%
18 to 24	3.7%	4.2%
25 to 34	6.8%	5.1%
35 to 44	21.9%	11.7%
45 to 54	15.3%	15.1%
55 to 64	12.9%	19.7%
65 to 74	8.4%	19.6%
75 and over	8.7%	7.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
White (non-Hispanic)	82.6%	97.0%
Black or African American	12.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.3%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.5%	0.6%
Hispanic or Latino	2.4%	2.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
No high school diploma	6.1%	0.1%
High school graduate	21.7%	2.0%
Some college or associate's	24.2%	10.7%
Bachelor's degree	32.1%	41.2%
Graduate or professional degree	15.9%	45.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
Drove alone	73.3%	81.1%
Carpooled	7.2%	1.4%
Public transit	0.3%	0.0%
Walked	1.5%	2.4%
Bicycle	0.2%	3.1%
Worked from home	15.1%	11.1%
Other means	2.3%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
1-unit, detached	92.7%	88.9%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	0.2%
2 to 4 units	2.1%	3.6%
5 to 19 units	1.2%	3.4%
20 or more units	0.0%	3.1%
Mobile home & other	2.1%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	James Island	Sullivan's Island
Poverty rate	5.4%	8.3%
Average household size	2.67	2.60
Mean commute (minutes)	23	17
Median year structure built	1971	1984