Charleroi covers 102.9 km² and has 202,267 inhabitants. The average age is 39, and women make up 51.2% of the population. Home ownership is the majority status, at 54%, and average net income per person is €13,444 a year. Residents’ recorded nationalities are 85% Belgian, 5.5% Italian, 1.5% Moroccan, 1.1% French, 1% Turkish, 0.9% Romanian, 0.8% Algerian and 4.1% other. Houses make up 77.2% of the dwelling stock, while apartment buildings account for 22.8%. The average dwelling has 5.3 rooms. Buildings were generally constructed around 1920; 43% are closed-type houses, 23.2% semi-closed-type houses, 6.7% open-type houses, farms or castles, and 4.1% commercial houses. These figures describe the local housing stock, alongside 21.5% buildings and flat blocks.
There are 46 houses for sale in Charleroi. The average asking price is €224,450, with current listings ranging from €69,900 to €995,000. The municipality has a broad mix of local businesses: 565 restaurants and mobile food-service companies, 497 hairdressing and beauty-treatment firms, and 320 residential and non-residential building-construction companies. For groceries and everyday shopping, the listed options include 18 Carrefour stores, 9 Aldi, 8 Lidl, 7 Louis Delhaize, 5 Colruyt, 5 Delhaize, 4 Trafic, 4 Intermarché, 2 Match / Smatch and 1 Bio-Planet.
Road access includes the A54 / E420 towards Nivelles and Charleroi, with an entrance 0 minutes by car from the centre. Access to the A15 / E42, running between La Louvière, Charleroi, Namur and Liège, is 7 minutes away. The N5, N29, R51, R51b and R51e also pass through Charleroi. Public transport includes TEC tram lines M2 from Charleroi Sud to Anderlues Monument, M3 from Charleroi Sud to Gosselies Fbg de Bruxelles, and M4 from Charleroi Sud to Gilly Soleilmont. There are also 63 bus lines; examples include line 1 between Montignies (Place), Charleroi Sud and GB Bomerée, line 18 between Jumet (Dépôt), Charleroi Sud and Châtelet (Chavepeyer), and line 710 between Fleurus and Charleroi.
Families have access to 118 nurseries, 130 nursery schools, 135 primary schools and 37 secondary schools within the municipality. Named examples include Ecole Fondamentale Annexée Vauban - Charleroi, Ecole Fondamentale Du Gros-Fayt, Ecole Fondamentale Libre Saint-Joseph, Institut Saint-Andre and Institut Notre-Dame. Charleroi has 6 electric-vehicle charging stations and 3 Cambio shared-car stations; shared bicycles are not available at present. Brussels South Charleroi Airport is 4 minutes away by car or 29 minutes by public transport. The available stations include Charleroi-West / Charleroi-Ouest, Charleroi-Zuid / Charleroi-Sud, Lodelinsart, Couillet and Marchienne-Au-Pont.