Dunbar vs South Charleston

A side-by-side comparison of Dunbar and South Charleston: population, income, housing, and more.

Dunbar and South Charleston are places in West Virginia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

South Charleston has the higher population (13,594 vs 7,340 in Dunbar). South Charleston has the higher median household income ($59,616 vs $54,647 in Dunbar). South Charleston has the higher median home value ($144,800 vs $121,100 in Dunbar).

Population, income & housing

	Dunbar	South Charleston
Population	7,340	13,594
Median age	43.0 yrs	41.1 yrs
Median household income	$54,647	$59,616
Median home value	$121,100	$144,800
Median gross rent	$904	$857
Housing units	4,096	6,733
Homeownership rate	58.1%	68.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.8%	35.3%
Unemployment rate	2.2%	6.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dunbar	South Charleston
Population	7,333 → 7,340 (+0.1%)	12,475 → 13,594 (+9.0%)
Median household income	$44,009 → $54,647 (+24.2%)	$53,713 → $59,616 (+11.0%)
Median home value	$98,400 → $121,100 (+23.1%)	$130,700 → $144,800 (+10.8%)
Median gross rent	$856 → $904 (+5.6%)	$702 → $857 (+22.1%)

Dunbar

Population

7,3337,340

Median household income

$44,009$54,647

Median home value

$98,400$121,100

Median gross rent

$856$904

South Charleston

Population

12,47513,594

Median household income

$53,713$59,616

Median home value

$130,700$144,800

Median gross rent

$702$857

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Dunbar	South Charleston
Under 5	3.9%	3.7%
5 to 17	13.1%	17.8%
18 to 24	11.2%	6.6%
25 to 34	11.1%	12.2%
35 to 44	13.7%	16.2%
45 to 54	10.2%	12.5%
55 to 64	13.4%	12.2%
65 to 74	11.2%	9.7%
75 and over	12.2%	9.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dunbar	South Charleston
White (non-Hispanic)	75.1%	84.9%
Black or African American	12.2%	7.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.3%
Asian	0.6%	1.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	1.9%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	6.6%	4.7%
Hispanic or Latino	3.5%	1.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dunbar	South Charleston
No high school diploma	6.3%	4.3%
High school graduate	32.2%	30.3%
Some college or associate's	30.7%	30.1%
Bachelor's degree	22.0%	20.0%
Graduate or professional degree	8.8%	15.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dunbar	South Charleston
Drove alone	85.3%	77.7%
Carpooled	6.1%	9.2%
Public transit	1.9%	1.9%
Walked	1.5%	2.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.1%	8.3%
Other means	0.0%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dunbar	South Charleston
1-unit, detached	74.3%	70.9%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	2.4%
2 to 4 units	6.8%	10.1%
5 to 19 units	7.9%	9.8%
20 or more units	7.8%	5.7%
Mobile home & other	0.8%	1.0%

Poverty & households

	Dunbar	South Charleston
Poverty rate	18.3%	21.0%
Average household size	2.00	2.22
Mean commute (minutes)	22	19
Median year structure built	1956	1958