Editing Charleston, South Carolina (section)

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations
|type= USA
|1770|10863
|1790|16359
|1800|18824
|1810|24711
|1820|24780
|1830|30289
|1840|29261
|1850|42985
|1860|40522
|1870|48956
|1880|49984
|1890|54955
|1900|55807
|1910|58833
|1920|67957
|1930|62265
|1940|71275
|1950|70174
|1960|60288
|1970|66945
|1980|69779
|1990|80414
|2000|96650
|2010|120083
|2020|150227
|2023|155369
|source=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426102944/http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|archive-date=April 26, 2015|df=mdy}}</ref><ref name="2020CensusQuickFacts"/><br />1770 estimate<ref name="ColonialPop">{{cite book|author=United States Census Bureau|date=1909|title=A Century of Population Growth|chapter=Population in the Colonial and Continental Periods|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00165897ch01.pdf|page=13|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804062114/https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00165897ch01.pdf|url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+'''Charleston city, South Carolina – Racial and ethnic composition'''<br><small>{{nobold|''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.''}}</small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(''NH = Non-Hispanic'')</small>
!Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>{{Cite web|title=P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Charleston city, South Carolina |url=https://data.census.gov/table?g=160XX00US4513330&tid=DECENNIALSF12000.P004|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 26, 2024}}</ref>
!Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Charleston city, South Carolina |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=160XX00US4513330&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 26, 2024}}</ref>
!{{partial|Pop 2020}}<ref name=2020CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Charleston city, South Carolina |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=160XX00US4513330&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 26, 2024}}</ref>
!% 2000
!% 2010
!{{partial|% 2020}}
|-
|[[White American|White]] alone (NH)
|60,187
|82,427
|style='background: #ffffe6; |108,766
|62.27%
|68.64%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |72.40%
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino African Americans|Black or African American]] alone (NH)
|32,688
|30,288
|style='background: #ffffe6; |25,332
|33.82%
|25.22%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |16.86%
|-
|[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[Alaska Native]] alone (NH)
|140
|235
|style='background: #ffffe6; |278
|0.14%
|0.20%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.19%
|-
|[[Asian Americans|Asian]] alone (NH)
|1,184
|1,950
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,240
|1.23%
|1.62%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.16%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]] alone (NH)
|50
|111
|style='background: #ffffe6; |154
|0.05%
|0.09%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.10%
|-
|Some Other Race alone (NH)
|131
|142
|style='background: #ffffe6; |501
|0.14%
|0.12%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.33%
|-
|[[Multiracial Americans|Mixed race or Multiracial]] (NH)
|808
|1,479
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5,138
|0.84%
|1.23%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.42%
|-
|[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (any race)
|1,462
|3,451
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6,818
|1.51%
|2.87%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.54%
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''96,650'''
|'''120,083'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''150,227'''
|'''100.00%'''
|'''100.00%'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''100.00%'''
|}

As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], there were 150,227 people, 58,902 households, and 31,780 families residing in the city.

In 2023, of the 150,227 people in Charleston, about 134,996 of them lived in Charleston County, and 15,231 of them lived in Berkeley County.<ref name=SCHighwayMapBerkeleyCo>{{cite web|url=https://info2.scdot.org/GISMapping/GISMapdl/Berkeley_County.pdf|title=General Highway System Berkeley County South Carolina|publisher=[[South Carolina Department of Transportation]]|date=April 2023|access-date=2024-10-25}}</ref>

===Language===
Charleston historically had a large concentration of African Americans who spoke [[Gullah language|Gullah]], a [[creole language]] that developed on the Sea Islands and in the Low Country, and local speech patterns were also influenced by this community. Today, Gullah is still spoken by some African-American residents.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gullah {{!}} language {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gullah-language |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> However, rapid development since 1980, especially on the surrounding Sea Islands, has attracted residents from outside the area and led to a decline in Gullah's prominence.

The traditional educated Charleston accent has long been noted throughout the state and South. It is typically heard in wealthy European American older people who trace their families back generations in the city. It has ingliding or monophthongal long mid-vowels, raises ''ay'' and ''aw'' in certain environments, and is [[rhotic and non-rhotic accents|nonrhotic]]. [[Sylvester Primer]] of the [[College of Charleston]] wrote about aspects of the local dialect in his late 19th-century works: "Charleston Provincialisms" (1887)<ref name="primer">[https://archive.org/details/jstor-456019 "Charleston Provincialisms" (1887)], Pub. Modern Language Association of America, Vol. iii, Internet Archive and Early Journal Content on JSTOR, accessed November 5, 2014</ref> and "The Huguenot Element in Charleston's Provincialisms", published in a German journal. He believed the accent was based on English, as the earliest settlers spoke it; therefore, it was derived from Elizabethan England and preserved with modifications by Charleston speakers. The disappearing "Charleston accent" spoken mainly by older natives is still noted in the local pronunciation of the city's name. Many Charleston natives ignore the 'r' and elongate the first vowel, pronouncing the name as "Chalston".

===Religion===
Charleston is known as "the Holy City".<ref name=why /> Despite beliefs that the term dates to the city's earliest days and refers to its religiously tolerant culture, the expression was coined in the 20th century, likely as a mockery of Charlestonians' self-satisfied attitude about their city.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gilbreth |first1=Edward M. |title=Research says 'Holy City' term not church-based |work=Post and Courier |date=May 25, 2016 |location=Charleston, South Carolina}}</ref> Many sources, however, traditionally link the term to the many old church spires dotting the skyline of downtown Charleston.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Miles, Suzannah Smith |title=Learn the History behind the Holy City's Church Steeples |url=https://charlestonmag.com/features/learn_the_history_behind_the_holy_city_s_church_steeples |website=Charleston Magazine |date=December 2020 |access-date=January 4, 2025}}</ref> Regardless of the nickname's origin, residents have embraced the term and have explained it in more flattering ways.

The Anglican church was dominant in the colonial era, and the [[Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul (Charleston, South Carolina)|Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul]] is today the seat of the [[Anglican Diocese of South Carolina]]. [[St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina)|St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church]] is another historic church in Charleston. Many French [[Huguenots|Huguenot]] refugees settled in Charleston in the early 18th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huguenotsociety.org/history.htm |title=History of the Huguenot Society |publisher=Huguenotsociety.org |access-date=September 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000830073605/http://www.huguenotsociety.org/history.htm |archive-date=August 30, 2000 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The [[Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church]] is the oldest [[African Methodist Episcopal]] church in the Southern [[United States]] and houses the oldest [[black church|black congregation]] south of [[Baltimore]], Maryland.<ref name="NYTimes-MotherEmanuel-2015">{{cite news |last1=Weisman |first1=Jonathan |title=Killings Add a Painful Chapter to Storied History of Charleston Church |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-killings-evoke-history-of-violence-against-black-churches.html |access-date=June 18, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 18, 2015 |archive-date=July 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702070037/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-killings-evoke-history-of-violence-against-black-churches.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

South Carolina has long allowed [[Jews]] to practice their faith without restriction. [[Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim|Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim]], founded in 1749 by [[Sephardic Jews]] from London, is the fourth-oldest Jewish congregation in the continental United States and was an important site for the development of [[Reform Judaism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kkbe.org/ |title=Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim |publisher=Kkbe.org |access-date=September 17, 2014 |archive-date=September 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924040949/http://www.kkbe.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Brith Sholom Beth Israel is the oldest [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] synagogue in the South, founded by Sam Berlin and other [[Ashkenazi]] German and Central European Jews in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bsbisynagogue.com/ |title=Brith Sholom Beth Israel |publisher=Bsbisynagogue.com |access-date=September 17, 2014 |archive-date=April 12, 2008 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080412050140/http%3A//www.bsbisynagogue.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The city's oldest [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] parish, [[St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church (Charleston, South Carolina)|St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church]] is the mother church of Catholicism in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. In 1820, Charleston was established as the [[Episcopal see|see city]] of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston|Diocese of Charleston]], which at the time comprised the Carolinas and Georgia and presently encompasses the state of South Carolina.

The [[Supreme Council, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA)|Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite]], established in Charleston in 1801, is considered the mother council of the world by [[Scottish Rite]] [[Freemasons]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Adams |first1=Rhett A. |title=Freemasonry |url=http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/freemasonry/ |website=South Carolina Encyclopedia |publisher=University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies |access-date=November 9, 2019 |date=May 17, 2016 |archive-date=November 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109144237/http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/freemasonry/ |url-status=live }}</ref>