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County profile South Carolina Metropolitan

Black health in Charleston County, South Carolina

95,000

Black residents (ACS)

23.20%

Of county population

$45,800

Median household income, Black

12.80%

Uninsured, Black residents

Charleston County has roughly 95,000 Black residents (~23%), including the historically-Black communities of the lower peninsula and the Sea Islands. The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston is the state's oldest continuously-operating medical school and one of the largest academic medical centres in the south-eastern United States; its MUSC Health Black Women's Health Imperative and the MUSC Storm Eye Institute's diabetic-retinopathy outreach to Lowcountry clinics are state-wide reference programs.

The 2015 Emanuel AME Church shooting in downtown Charleston reshaped the city's conversation about Black community health, MUSC's Institute of Psychiatry runs a Lowcountry-specific racial trauma clinical program developed in the aftermath.

Headline outcomes

Race-stratified county-level figures pulled from CDC WONDER small-area estimates, the annual County Health Rankings, and the CDC NVSS state/county life tables. County values with cell counts below CDC suppression thresholds are marked as data pending.

Life expectancy (Black)

75.10 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

11.90

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

355.80

Age-adjusted per 100k, CDC WONDER I00-I99

County Health Rankings

#9

Overall rank in South Carolina (lower = better)

Policy context in Charleston

South Carolina has not adopted Medicaid expansion. Low-income Black adults in this county without dependent children and without employer coverage typically fall into the coverage gap — uninsured by default. Medicaid does not cover doula services in this state. Postpartum Medicaid coverage extends for 12 months after delivery — the federal recommended standard, in place here.

Where to get help in Charleston

Find Black health providers & resources in Charleston

Black clinicians in Charleston

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across South Carolina

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

South Carolina state profile

Statewide context, Medicaid policy, all 10 health facets

References & primary sources

  1. Demographics: US Census ACS 5-year 2019–2023, Tables B03002 (race), B01003 (total population), S1903 (median income), B27010B (uninsured by race).
  2. Mortality and life expectancy: CDC WONDER county-level Multiple Cause of Death and Underlying Cause of Death, pooled 2020–2022; CDC NVSS Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates, 2016–2020 release.
  3. County Health Rankings: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2024 release.
  4. HRSA shortage-area designations: HRSA HPSA Find and MUA/P Find, current as of 2025.
  5. Rural-Urban Continuum Codes: USDA Economic Research Service, 2023 release.

Data refreshed:

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