North Charleston, SC has a F safety grade (0/100) with a violent crime rate of 811 per 100,000, 130% above the national average.
FBI UCR 2024 · per-capita rates · large city
North Charleston, SC Crime Rate & Safety
At 123,511 residents, North Charleston is a large city: FBI UCR Table 8 rates (per 100,000) here are read against SC and U.S. averages before the offense-family breakdown.
North Charleston, SC carries a PlainCrime F safety grade with violent crime 130% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, North Charleston, SC shows violent crime at 810.5 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 3,955.9 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 130% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade F from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
F safety grade
810.5/100K violent
3955.9/100K property
+130% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for North Charleston, SC
Comparable rate records
North Charleston's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the South Carolina cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to North Charleston's 810.5 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Florence (806.7), Holly Hill (805.8), Bishopville (815.9), Pelion (801.3). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
Position in the state cohort
North Charleston sits mid-pack among comparable South Carolina cities
At 810.5 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, North Charleston ranks 39 of 149 — above 110 of the 148 other South Carolina cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +95.5% against the cohort median of 414.6. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 1159.1 per 100,000 in 2020 to 810.5 in 2024 (-30.1%). The highest observed value was 1159.1 in 2020 and the lowest 810.5 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate North Charleston's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
On a large city row, these are citywide reported offense totals - not neighbourhood advice. Conditions vary by place and time; reporting rates differ across jurisdictions.
North Charleston's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 78 Census sq mi, North Charleston logged 62.7 property and 12.8 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
North Charleston's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (65% of 5,887 offenses; mix index 4,574).
Violent offenses are 17% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (78 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Property rate moved most (2023→2024)
Property Crime Rate
-17.4%
4791 → 3955.9/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-12.5%
926.2 → 810.5/100K
Property offenses lead North Charleston's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs SC
Property Crime
4,886
3955.9
1711
1988.2
Larceny-Theft
3,836
3105.8
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
650
526.3
-
-
Burglary
400
323.9
-
-
Arson
6
4.9
-
-
Violent Crime
1,001
810.5
352
439.3
Aggravated Assault
716
579.7
-
-
Robbery
189
153
-
-
Rape
75
60.7
-
-
Murder
21
17
-
-
North Charleston Crime Trend (2020-2024)
North Charleston property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
North Charleston Police Department
Reporting agency for North Charleston NIBRS-participating
North Charleston Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind North Charleston's 5,887 reported offenses (5-year span 2020-2024).
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in South Carolina
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the South Carolina cities closest to North Charleston in population. Their populations run from 47,690 to 156,898, against 123,511 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
North Charleston at 810.5/100K violent and 3,955.9/100K property - matched below outside South Carolina (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
How many crimes were reported in North Charleston?
In 2024, North Charleston reported 1,001 violent crimes and 4,886 property crimes, for a total of 5,887 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in North Charleston?
From 2023 to 2024, North Charleston's violent crime rate decreased by 12.5%, and the property crime rate decreased by 17.4%.
What is the most common crime in North Charleston?
The most common crime type in North Charleston is larceny-theft, accounting for 65.2% of all reported crimes (3,836 incidents in 2024).
Large-city read: North Charleston's rates come from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, CIUS Table 8, vintage 2024.
Incomplete reporters stay out of rate rankings. Cross-check population with Census ACS; state UCR programs for statewide context. Primary verify links: FBI.gov UCR, Census QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (large city): informational crime rates only - not legal, insurance, or personal-safety advice. Source: FBI UCR. Ask a qualified professional before acting.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 North Charleston, SC rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.