Daniel Island, Charleston, SC
What Daniel Island is actually like
Daniel Island is named for colonial governor Robert Daniell, and before that was land worked by the Etiwan people; it stayed rural for most of the 20th century, used for farming, cattle ranching, and as a private hunting retreat after the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation bought the 4,000-acre island in 1947. That changed once the City of Charleston annexed the island in 1992 and I-526 (the Mark Clark Expressway) reached it soon after: the Guggenheim Foundation's development arm hired architect Jaquelin T. Robertson of Cooper, Robertson & Partners to draw a new-urbanist master plan in the early 1990s, the first residents moved into Codner's Ferry Park in late 1996, and the Daniel Island Company bought the property outright for $12 million in 1997 to build it out (Urban Land Institute, The Daniel Island News).
The single feature that most shaped how the island performs today is its infrastructure: rather than build to the area's standard 10-year-storm drainage requirement, the Daniel Island Company -- controlling roughly 3,000 acres under one developer -- graded streets to a minimum 7.5-foot elevation (about a foot higher than Charleston's typical standard at the time) and sized stormwater pipes and interconnected ponds for a 25-year storm. Institutional build-out followed fast: Bishop England High School opened on the island in 1998, the I-526 interchange at Exit 24 opened in 1999, and the Family Circle Tennis Center -- now Credit One Stadium -- opened in 2001 (The Daniel Island News).
Real-estate demographic estimates put Daniel Island's population at roughly 11,200 residents as of the mid-2020s, up from about 10,000 at the Daniel Island Property Owners' Association's own 20th-anniversary count in 2016 -- the island isn't tracked as its own Census place, so precise year-over-year figures are harder to pin down than for the City of Charleston overall (Rob Preiditsch Group, Daniel Island Property Owners' Association). The Urban Land Institute's own 20-year case study put the island's assessed property value at roughly $2 billion by 2016, generating about $30 million a year in property taxes, against an original master plan calling for 6,000 residential units at full build-out (Urban Land Institute).
Home values in Daniel Island
Zillow's own Daniel Island page has been returning rate-limit errors rather than loading, so the figures below come from a local real-estate broker's 2026 market analysis instead: median sale prices for single-family detached homes were running $1.7-1.8 million in mid-2026, roughly 4% below 2025's peak, with about 145 active listings, 70-73 average days on market, and homes closing around 3% below asking price on average -- entry-level detached pricing on the island has settled into seven figures (Jameson Cokas). Walk Score puts Daniel Island at 19, "Car-Dependent," with a Bike Score of 42, well below downtown Charleston's peninsula scores (Walk Score). South Carolina taxes an owner-occupied primary residence at a 4% assessment ratio and everything else -- second homes, rentals, most LLC-owned property -- at 6%; every property defaults to the 6% rate when it changes hands, and a new owner has to file for the legal-residence exemption to get to 4% (Nat Wallen). South Carolina's statewide average effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing is 0.49%, well below the national average, alongside a 6.00% state sales tax (7.49% average combined with local option taxes) and a graduated income tax topping out at 5.21% (Tax Foundation). Water and sewer come from Charleston Water System, which has owned and operated Daniel Island's own wastewater pretreatment plant since shortly after the 1992 annexation, pumping through the Cooper Sewer Tunnel to the Plum Island plant for final treatment; electric service can differ by exact address depending on certificated utility territory, so confirm the provider before closing (M.B. Kahn).
Evenings and weekends
Daniel Island's biggest annual draw is tennis: Credit One Stadium, at 161 Seven Farms Drive, has hosted the WTA's Charleston Open -- a WTA 500 event and the only clay-court tour stop played on green clay -- every year since the venue opened in 2001 as the Family Circle Tennis Center. The 2026 edition, the tournament's 54th (the event itself dates to 1973 on Hilton Head Island), ran March 30-April 5 with Jessica Pegula winning the singles title; the stadium was renamed Volvo Car Stadium in 2020 and Credit One Stadium in 2021, and a 2022 renovation expanded seating from about 7,000 to roughly 11,000 (Wikipedia, Wikipedia). Away from tournament week, the Daniel Island Club runs two golf courses designed by Tom Fazio and Rees Jones, and the island's eight public parks -- Barfield, Center, Cochran, Codner's Ferry, Daniel Island, Etiwan, Pierce, and Smythe -- along with its marina and 23 miles of river and marsh frontage, are the everyday draw rather than a single commercial strip (Wikipedia).
Getting around
Walk Score's 19 for Daniel Island, "Car-Dependent," reflects an island designed around its street grid and parking rather than a dense commercial core; the Bike Score of 42 is "Somewhat Bikeable" (Walk Score). The island sits roughly 15 miles from downtown Charleston's historic peninsula via I-526 (the Mark Clark Expressway), a drive that commonly runs 20-30 minutes outside peak congestion and considerably longer when I-526 backs up (Daniel Island Property Owners' Association). East Cooper Medical Center, at 1200 Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant, is the nearest hospital, reached via I-526 and US-17 (Daniel Island Property Owners' Association). Flooding here is a storm-surge and heavy-rain story rather than a chronic tidal one: an October 2015 rain event dropped an estimated 1.9 billion gallons of water across the island's 4,000 acres in a single weekend, and Hurricane Irma's 2017 storm surge briefly overtopped some low-lying outfall structures -- both times the island's above-standard drainage (streets graded to a minimum 7.5-foot elevation, pipes sized for a 25-year storm rather than the usual 10-year benchmark) kept damage to street flooding and a handful of sewer backups rather than the widespread flooding nearby lower-lying areas saw (The Daniel Island News, The Daniel Island News). Check FEMA's Flood Map Service Center for a specific address; risk still varies by block and elevation.
Daniel Island FAQ
Is Daniel Island walkable?
Not in the Walk Score sense -- Walk Score puts Daniel Island at 19, "Car-Dependent," with a Bike Score of 42, "Somewhat Bikeable." The town-center blocks around Seven Farms Drive and Fairchild Street work fine on foot, but most errands across the island's roughly 4,000 acres still require a car.
How did Daniel Island become a planned community?
The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation used the island for farming, cattle ranching, and as a hunting retreat from 1947 until the City of Charleston annexed it in 1992. Architect Jaquelin T. Robertson drew a new-urbanist master plan in the early 1990s, the first residents moved into Codner's Ferry Park in late 1996, and the Daniel Island Company bought the property outright for $12 million in 1997 to build it out.
Does Daniel Island flood?
Storm surge and heavy rain both reach the island, but its streets and drainage were engineered above the area's normal standard -- graded to a minimum 7.5-foot elevation and built to handle a 25-year storm rather than the usual 10-year benchmark. An October 2015 rain event dropped roughly 18 inches (an estimated 1.9 billion gallons across the island) with only street flooding, and Hurricane Irma's 2017 storm surge briefly overtopped some low-lying outfalls before draining with the tide.
What tournament is played at Credit One Stadium?
The Credit One Charleston Open, a WTA 500 tournament and the only clay-court event on the tour played on green clay. The stadium has hosted it since 2001, when it opened as the Family Circle Tennis Center; it was renamed Volvo Car Stadium in 2020 and Credit One Stadium in 2021, and a 2022 renovation expanded seating from about 7,000 to roughly 11,000.
What company is headquartered on Daniel Island?
Blackbaud, the nonprofit-software company, opened a 172,000-square-foot world headquarters on Daniel Island in June 2018. It's the company's second campus there -- its original 230,000-square-foot building at 2000 Daniel Island Drive, built in 2000, was sold in 2019 for $35.5 million and is being redeveloped into the mixed-use Nowell Creek Village.
What school district serves Daniel Island, and how many people live there?
Berkeley County School District, not Charleston County School District -- K-8 students are zoned to Daniel Island School and high schoolers to Philip Simmons High School, which opened in 2017. Real-estate demographic data puts the island's population at roughly 11,200, up from about 10,000 at the Daniel Island Property Owners' Association's 20-year mark in 2016, against a planned build-out near 15,000 residents.
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Goose Creek
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Hanahan
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