City limitsPlace boundary

Curated city comparison

CharlestonSavannah

Coastal regional alternatives with material differences across acquisition economics, renter pressure, housing form and local demand risk.

Charleston, SC city briefSavannah, GA city brief

Decision memo

The trade-off before property underwriting

The interpretation uses direct city records only. County and metro averages are not substituted into this comparison.

Savannah, GA better fits cash flow and entry affordability: its Zillow gross yield is 6.64% versus Charleston, SC at 4.50%, while its Zillow home-value index is $326,616 versus $598,419. That advantage is only a screening signal because gross yield excludes every major operating and financing cost. Underwrite property taxes, insurance, flood exposure, vacancy, repairs and capital work before advancing a Savannah asset.

Renter pressure depends on interpretation. Savannah has the larger renter share at 54.65% and slightly greater rent burden at 54.90%, but also the higher housing vacancy rate at 14.64%. Charleston combines a 44.41% renter share with a 12.13% vacancy rate. For housing stock, Charleston better fits investors seeking newer construction or large multifamily exposure: its median year built is 1995, compared with 1971 in Savannah.

Charleston better fits a local-demand objective because its population change across overlapping ACS vintages was 14.11%, versus 1.72% in Savannah, and unemployment was 3.38% versus 7.23%. Its Zillow rent index also rose 3.73% year over year while Savannah’s fell 1.28%. These citywide indicators favor Charleston’s demand backdrop but do not erase its higher basis. The next check should compare address-level achievable rent, insurance quotations, flood and wind exposure, tax treatment, physical condition, tenant turnover and nearby competing inventory.

Direct city matrix

The same definition on both sides

“n/a” remains missing. Zillow indexes and ACS survey measures stay visibly separate.

Decision evidence	Charleston, SC	Savannah, GA
Typical home valueZillow ZHVI · city	$598,419	$326,616
Observed market rentZillow ZORI · city	$2,245	$1,807
Gross yieldZORI × 12 ÷ ZHVI · before costs	4.5%	6.6%
Price to household incomeZillow value ÷ ACS income	6.48x	5.72x
Annual rent to incomeZillow rent × 12 ÷ ACS income	29.2%	37.9%
Rent burdenACS renter households paying 30%+	54.5%	54.9%
Renter shareACS occupied housing	44.4%	54.6%
Vacancy rateACS all housing units	12.1%	14.6%
Population changebetween ACS vintages · not annualized	▲ 14.1%	▲ 1.7%
UnemploymentACS civilian labor force	3.4%	7.2%

Entry and income screen

Price, rent and yield do not tell the same story

Bars begin at zero within each measure. Gross yield remains a before-cost screen.

Zillow city ZHVI and ZORI · 2026-06 / 2026-06

Price and rent history

Two city paths, each rebased to 100

Each panel keeps price and rent in its own city; no level is borrowed across geographies.

Five-year path

Price and rent, rebased to 100

ZHVI +43.8%ZORI +40.8%

Each series starts at 100 so their direction can be compared without pretending that a home value and a monthly rent share the same unit.

Five-year path

Price and rent, rebased to 100

ZHVI +37.5%ZORI +31.7%

Each series starts at 100 so their direction can be compared without pretending that a home value and a monthly rent share the same unit.

Fit by objective

There is no universal city winner

Five city questions remain separate so a yield lead cannot erase affordability or demand risk.

Cash-flow screenSavannah

Savannah, GA better fits cash flow screening because its Zillow gross yield is 6.64%, compared with 4.50% in Charleston, SC. Charleston’s Zillow rent index is higher at $2,245, but its Zillow value index is also substantially higher at $598,419. Test each candidate’s actual lease evidence and expense load; gross yield excludes vacancy, management, repairs, taxes, insurance, utilities, financing and capital work.

Entry affordabilitySavannah

Savannah, GA better fits entry affordability with a Zillow home-value index of $326,616 versus $598,419 in Charleston, SC. Its price-to-income measure is also lower at 5.72 versus 6.48. These figures support a lower city-level acquisition hurdle, not a property appraisal. The next check is the specific asking price, required rehabilitation, insurance quote, tax basis and financing terms for comparable assets in each city.

Renter pressureDepends on the property

Savannah, GA shows more renter exposure than Charleston, SC, with renter shares of 54.65% and 44.41%, while rent burden is 54.90% and 54.51%, respectively. Yet Savannah’s housing vacancy rate is also higher at 14.64% versus Charleston’s 12.13%. Savannah may offer a broader renter pool but greater availability risk; verify neighborhood vacancy, concessions, lease-up time and tenant-income fit before treating renter share as demand.

Housing stockCharleston

Charleston, SC better fits a newer or large-multifamily housing-stock objective: its median year built is 1995 and large-multifamily share is 17.85%, versus 1971 and 8.77% in Savannah, GA. Savannah instead has the greater single-family share, 61.36% versus Charleston’s 54.61%, which may suit detached-home strategies. Property-level underwriting should inspect roof, systems, storm resilience, deferred maintenance and insurability rather than infer condition from citywide age.

Local demand riskCharleston

Charleston, SC better fits local-demand screening. Population change across overlapping ACS vintages was 14.11% in Charleston versus 1.72% in Savannah, GA; this is not an annualized growth rate. Charleston also had 3.38% unemployment versus Savannah’s 7.23%, while Zillow rent growth was 3.73% versus -1.28%. Confirm that the target submarket shares these citywide signals through recent leasing velocity, employer access and competing listings.

Household pressure

Acquisition and renter affordability

Zillow city indexes divided by direct ACS city household measures.

Housing system

Tenure, vacancy and structure

ACS citywide housing characteristics; not rentable inventory or lease-up speed.

Underwriting boundary

What this city comparison cannot decide

City evidence narrows a search; it does not appraise, inspect or finance a property.

01
Zillow indexes describe city-level market movements, whereas ACS median rent and value describe surveyed housing populations. They should not be averaged, and ACS medians should not be treated as competing appraisals for a target property.
02
Gross yield is a preliminary revenue-to-value screen only. It excludes vacancy, management, repairs, property taxes, insurance, utilities, financing and capital work, all of which may materially alter Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA underwriting.
03
ACS population change uses overlapping survey vintages and is not annualized. Citywide vacancy, renter share and labor indicators can also conceal sharp neighborhood differences, so address-level flood, wind, insurance, condition and leasing checks remain necessary.

Figure-level provenance

The direct sources behind both records

Release period and retrieval date remain separate. Open either city brief for its complete geography ledger.

Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housingACS 2024 5-yearPulled 2026-07-29 Census ACS 5-year — cities and communitiesACS 2024 5-yearPulled 2026-07-30 Zillow ZHVI — city home valueszillow_zhvi_city.csvPulled 2026-07-29 Zillow ZORI — city market rentszillow_zori_city.csvPulled 2026-07-29

Charleston, SCOpen the complete city brief154,338 residents in the current ACS record Savannah, GAOpen the complete city brief147,898 residents in the current ACS record Property testStress-test the same assumptionsReplace city averages with an actual deal