Kiawah is a barrier island south of Charleston, lying between the mouths of the Stono and the North Edisto. You reach it from Johns Island, over the bridge where Kiawah Island Parkway crosses the Kiawah River. The resort came first and the municipality followed, with the island becoming a town in 1988.
Golf is why most people know the name. The Ocean Course, laid out by Pete Dye along the Atlantic, held the Ryder Cup in 1991 and the PGA Championship in 2012. Away from the fairways, Marsh Island Park protects maritime forest, salt marsh and hummock islands, with a lookout tower over it, and two National Register listings sit here, the Arnoldus Vander Horst House, also called Kiawah House, listed in October 1973, and the Bass Pond archaeological site, listed in 1979 with its address restricted.
Beachwalker Park at 8 Beachwalker Drive, on the west end, is the island’s one public beach access. Night Heron Park is resort-owned and private.
The Census recorded 2,013 residents in 2020 against 3,665 housing units, and 2,385 of those homes were held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use, sixty-five percent of everything on the island. Only 1,024 were occupied as somebody’s usual residence, and the estimate for July 2025 was 2,014, one person above the 2020 count.
The employment follows from that. The Town’s 2025 planning materials put Kiawah Island Golf Resort as the island’s largest employer at about 1,700 people, with Kiawah Island Club among the larger ones, and accommodation, food service and retail leading the employment. Charleston County School District serves the island.
The town’s transportation plan puts Charleston International Airport a little over thirty miles from the front gate, with Charleston Executive Airport handling private and corporate aviation, and the county’s evacuation route runs SC 700 to Main Road and out to US 17.
Sourced: incorporation 1988, Town of Kiawah Island. Population and housing units, U.S. Census Bureau 2020 count and Vintage 2025 estimate. Parks, beach access and the private status of Night Heron, Charleston County and the Town. Ocean Course championships, the Town. Register listings and dates, National Park Service and the South Carolina Register inventory. Employer figures, the Town’s 2025 planning materials, which are planning-document figures rather than a current headcount. Airport distance and evacuation route, the Town’s transportation plan and Charleston County. Seasonal use, 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics file, table H5, vacancy status. Occupied housing, the same file, table H3, occupancy status.