Out of the 80,000+ Chinese characters that exist, a working knowledge of just 2,000-3,000 characters is considered a good foundation for literacy in Chinese, and equips the reader to understand approximately 97-99% of modern texts.
The average educated Chinese person knows around 8,000 characters.
The Table of General Standard Chinese Characters has 8,105 characters, with 6,500 being common.
You need to know about 6,000 characters to be familiar with business and place names, restaurant menu items, etc.