Вот пример:
$(function() {
$('#test').change(function() {
$('#length').html($('#test').val().length)
})
})
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<textarea id=test maxlength=10></textarea>
length = <span id=length>0</span>