Charleston, South Carolina draws more than seven million visitors a year. Its historic district is one of the most photographed in the country. Its restaurant scene has won national awards. Its waterfront real estate is among the most coveted on the East Coast. And in 2025, one in every six of its renters received an eviction filing.
That number — a 17% eviction filing rate, third-highest of any city tracked by Princeton University's Eviction Lab — sits alongside the tourism brochures and the Food & Wine covers without contradiction in the way that only truly unequal cities can manage. Two economies occupy the same geography. One thrives. One files notices.
And South Carolina as a state has made the Eviction Lab's watchlist in a way no other state has: two of its cities — Charleston at 17% and Greenville at 20% — occupy the third and second spots in the national rankings. The state does not have a housing stability problem. It has a housing stability crisis, distributed across its major population centers.
"The eviction filing rate in Charleston is more than double the national average. For a city with Charleston's wealth and visibility, that gap should not exist."
— Housing advocates citing Princeton Eviction Lab data, 2026The two Charlestons: what the numbers reveal
7.9%
National average eviction filing rate
One filing per 13 renter households across tracked US cities
17%
Charleston's filing rate
More than double the national average — one in six renter households
Black renters in South Carolina are disproportionately represented in eviction filings statewide — a pattern consistent with Eviction Lab's national finding that Black renters make up 28% of the tracked renter population but 39% of eviction defendants. Charleston's historically Black communities — North Charleston, the West Ashley corridor, and neighborhoods along the former Neck Area — carry concentrated eviction pressure as gentrification pushes westward from the peninsula.
Why Charleston's eviction rate is this high: four compounding forces
1
Tourism-driven rent inflation in a low-wage service economy
Charleston's tourism economy generates billions in annual revenue — but the workers who staff its hotels, restaurants, and historic attractions earn service-sector wages while competing for housing in a market priced for short-term rental income and second-home buyers. A hospitality worker earning $15–$18 per hour cannot afford market-rate rent in a city where median two-bedroom rents have climbed past $1,600. The math of that mismatch produces eviction filings at scale.
2
Short-term rental conversion removing long-term housing supply
Charleston's Airbnb and short-term rental market has converted thousands of units from long-term residential housing to visitor accommodation. Each unit removed from the long-term rental market tightens supply and pushes prices higher for the renters who remain. Charleston has attempted STR regulation but enforcement has been inconsistent, and the conversion pipeline continues to drain affordable units from the market.
3
South Carolina's 5-day pay-or-quit notice and landlord-favorable statutes
South Carolina requires only five days' notice before a landlord can file for eviction for non-payment. The state's landlord-tenant law offers limited tenant protections compared to peer states — no rent control, no source-of-income protection, no guaranteed right to counsel in eviction proceedings. When legal infrastructure consistently favors the filing party, filing rates rise. Charleston's rate reflects that legal environment as much as its economic one.
4
Climate displacement pressure compounding housing scarcity
Charleston is one of the most flood-prone cities on the East Coast, and climate-driven flooding events have displaced residents from historically affordable neighborhoods, particularly in North Charleston and lower-elevation areas. Displaced renters competing for a shrinking affordable housing stock in a tourism-priced market face compounding pressure. Climate risk and housing instability are not separate crises in Charleston — they are the same crisis from two angles.
South Carolina's statewide pattern
Charleston is not an outlier within South Carolina — it is the visible tip of a statewide crisis. Greenville's 20% rate was second in the nation before recent data updates. Both cities share the same structural conditions: low-wage service economies, limited tenant protections, and a housing market that has outpaced the incomes of its workforce. When two cities from the same state occupy the top three nationally, the problem is not local. It is policy.
If you are facing eviction in Charleston right now
211 South Carolina
24/7 statewide helpline. Real-time connection to emergency rental assistance and legal referrals. Always your first call.
Call or text 211
SC Legal Services — Charleston Office
Free civil legal services for low-income South Carolina renters. Eviction defense, tenant rights, housing discrimination.
Lowcountry Homeless Coalition
Emergency rental assistance and housing stability services for the Charleston metro area.
Crisis Ministries — Charleston
Emergency rental and utility assistance, case management, and housing navigation for Charleston County residents.
Charleston County Community Development
County-administered housing assistance programs and CDBG-funded emergency rental help.
Data sources: Eviction filing rates from Princeton University's Eviction Lab 2025 annual report, as reported by Stateline (April 2026). South Carolina city rankings verified across multiple Eviction Lab publications. National racial disparity data from Eviction Lab's 2025 demographic analysis. All statistics current as of September 2026 — verify at evictionlab.org.
A path forward — Perfect Tenant Innovation
Charleston's prosperity shouldn't
come at the cost of your housing stability.
come at the cost of your housing stability.
Charleston's wealth is real. So is its eviction crisis. Both exist simultaneously in the same city — because the economic forces that drive one don't automatically address the other. Tourism revenue doesn't lower your rent. Award-winning restaurants don't rebuild your credit after an eviction filing. A thriving real estate market doesn't give you a verified rental reputation for the next landlord who asks about your history.
That's what Perfect Tenant Innovation does. Not during the crisis — 211 and SC Legal Services are for that moment. PTI is the platform you build on once you're stable: the credit reporting, the rental reputation, and the earned income that put you on firmer ground before the next market surge, the next notice, the next moment when Charleston's two economies collide in your mailbox.
That's what Perfect Tenant Innovation does. Not during the crisis — 211 and SC Legal Services are for that moment. PTI is the platform you build on once you're stable: the credit reporting, the rental reputation, and the earned income that put you on firmer ground before the next market surge, the next notice, the next moment when Charleston's two economies collide in your mailbox.
What an eviction costs Charleston renters
- An eviction filing — even dismissed — surfaces on background checks and disqualifies you from rentals in an already-tight Charleston market
- A judgment drops your credit score 50–150 points and stays on your file for 7 years — in a city where landlords have enormous tenant-selection power, that score matters
- Without a positive rental track record, you have nothing to counter what the background check shows — and in Charleston's competitive market, landlords don't have to take the risk
- Displacement in a tourism-priced city often means relocating far from your employment, your children's schools, and your community support network
What PTI rebuilds — from your next on-time payment forward
Credit bureau reporting — all 3
Every on-time rent payment reported to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. In a city where your credit score determines housing access, every month of positive history matters more than in most markets.
Stay Grade — verified rental reputation
A portable, verified score documenting your tenancy behavior. When Charleston landlords have dozens of applicants, your Stay Grade gives them a reason to choose the tenant with the documented track record.
Earn toward rent monthly
Brand campaigns matched to your Charleston social audience. In a tourism city with a rich local brand ecosystem — restaurants, hospitality, personal care — campaign opportunities are strong and consistent.
Financial literacy built in
400+ quiz questions and 12 video lessons on budgeting, credit, saving, and insurance — earning PTI Points as you learn. The financial tools Charleston's service economy never provided.
PTI Wallet and marketplace
Points earned through missions, campaigns, and on-time payments convert to real cash value — redeemable as rent credits or in the PTI Shopping Universe.
Property health documentation
Timestamped unit documentation. In a market where security deposit disputes are common and landlords have leverage, PTI's property health record protects your deposit before the dispute starts.
PTI is not emergency cash and it won't resolve an active eviction filing. What it is: the system you activate the moment you have stable housing again — building the credit history, the rental reputation, and the monthly income reduction that make the next housing crisis less likely and the recovery faster when it happens anyway.
Join the Tenant Waitlist
Free for tenants · No minimum credit score · Invite your landlord to activate rewards · Credit reporting starts with your first on-time payment
What would actually fix this — and what you can do while it doesn't
Housing advocates in South Carolina have identified the policy changes that would reduce Charleston's eviction rate: lengthening the notice period beyond five days, implementing source-of-income protections that prevent landlords from screening out voucher holders, providing right to counsel in eviction proceedings, and regulating short-term rental conversion to protect long-term housing supply. Some of these changes require state legislation — which means sustained political pressure on a legislature that has historically favored property owners over tenants.
In the meantime:
- If you are in active crisis: Call 211 immediately. Contact SC Legal Services the same day you receive any legal notice.
- If you are stable but stretched: Build your margin before the gap appears. PTI's earnings and credit reporting start the moment your landlord joins the platform.
- If you are rebuilding after an eviction: Your PTI record begins with your next payment. Start it now.
- If you want to fight the policy: SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center and the SC Housing Authority track legislative housing issues statewide.
The record you're building
Charleston's housing market is tight, competitive, and landlord-favorable. The tenants who navigate it successfully are the ones who walk into every rental application with documentation — a credit score that's climbing, a verified rental track record, a Stay Grade that speaks before they say a word. PTI builds that documentation month by month. Start now.
Charleston renters: the city's prosperity should include you. PTI helps you claim your share of the stable ground.
Join free. Invite your landlord. Every on-time payment builds the record that opens the next door — in a market where that record matters more than almost anywhere else.
Join the Tenant WaitlistFree for tenants · No credit score required · Reports to all 3 bureaus from your first on-time payment