State crime profile · 2024

South Carolina Crime Rates: Safest & Most Dangerous Cities

Crime data for 149 cities and 44 of 46 counties in South Carolina (SC), ranked safest to most dangerous from 552 reporting agencies.

Data updated 2026-09-05

439.3
Violent / 100K
1,988.2
Property / 100K
149
Cities
44
Counties

South Carolina violent crime is 439.3 per 100,000, 25% above the U.S. average

According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, South Carolina records 439.3 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, 25% above the national average (about the 41st-safest of 51 states and D.C.). Statewide averages hide city and county variation; UCR participation is voluntary.

  • 439.3 violent crimes per 100K
  • +25% vs. the U.S. average
  • 1,113 Columbia violent-crime reports, volume #1 of 23
  • 1,480.1/100K Spartanburg rate #1 (volume #3)

How safe is South Carolina? FBI UCR data snapshot

South Carolina (SC) reported 24,069 violent crimes and 108,928 property crimes in 2024, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions from 552 law enforcement agencies. That translates to a statewide violent crime rate of 439.3 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1988.2 per 100,000 against a reporting population of 5,478,831. The PlainCrime dataset indexes 149 South Carolina cities and 44 counties, each with their own detail pages and local crime figures drawn from FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10.

The FBI's state-level summary reports violent and property crime as aggregate totals rather than broken out by individual offense type (murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson). For an offense-by-offense breakdown, see the individual city and county pages for South Carolina below, which draw on FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10 and do report each offense type separately.

Across 11 years of state-level UCR history (2014–2024), the violent crime rate moved from 491.3 to 439.3 per 100,000, a decline of 10.6%. City-level detail pages within South Carolina include safety grades (A+ to F), benchmarks against national averages, per-capita risk estimates, and multi-year trend tables for users comparing specific jurisdictions. All figures above are drawn from FBI UCR 2024 submissions; reporting completeness varies by agency, and the FBI periodically restates prior-year figures as late submissions arrive.

How South Carolina ranks nationally

South Carolina vs. every U.S. state

Violent crime per 100,000 residents, FBI UCR 2024. Lower is safer.

439 20th percentile among 51 U.S. states

SC 0 1,100+ every state & DC, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band of values; taller bars hold more U.S. states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · 2024

Safest cities · Most dangerous cities · Crime trends

Crime Trends

Year Population Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate
2024 5,478,831 24,069 439.3 108,928 1988.2
2023 5,373,555 25,624 476.9 120,486 2242.2
2022 5,282,634 26,333 498.5 124,144 2350
2021 5,190,705 26,636 513.1 130,274 2509.8
2020 5,218,040 27,371 524.5 140,993 2702
2019 5,148,714 25,850 502.1 148,813 2890.3
2018 5,084,127 25,087 493.4 154,219 3033.3
2017 5,024,369 25,150 500.6 159,010 3164.8
2016 4,961,119 24,974 503.4 161,187 3249
2015 4,896,146 24,025 490.7 161,063 3289.6
2014 4,832,482 23,740 491.3 166,526 3446

Cities in South Carolina

Safest cities in South Carolina

Cities with 25,000+ residents, lowest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows North Augusta is the safest sizeable city in South Carolina, at 34.1 violent crimes per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024

Highest violent-crime cities in South Carolina

Cities with 25,000+ residents, highest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows Spartanburg reports the highest big-city violent-crime rate in South Carolina, at 1,480.1 per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024

Columbia recorded 1,113 violent-crime reports (#1 of 23) at 769.9 per 100,000 (rate #6). Spartanburg recorded 580 (#3) at 1,480.1 per 100,000 (#1). These are FBI UCR 2024 agency submissions, not a personal risk forecast.

Volume #1 is not rate #1 among South Carolina cities

Violent-crime rate per 100,000 for the count leader and the rate leader among cities with 25,000+ residents, FBI UCR 2024. Each tooltip identifies the relevant rate or volume rank; chart row is not a state rank.

/100K

What this shows Columbia recorded 1,113 violent-crime reports (#1 of 23) at 769.9 per 100,000 (rate #6). Spartanburg recorded 580 (#3) at 1,480.1 per 100,000 (#1). These are FBI UCR 2024 agency submissions, not a personal risk forecast.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
South Carolina's largest cities, violent vs. property crime. X axis violent crime per 100K, Y axis property crime per 100K, split by the national averages. 14 cities; the anchor is ringed. South Carolina's largest cities, violent vs. property crime 107 1,599 Violent crime per 100K → 743 6,108 Property crime per 100K → Charleston Columbia North Charleston Mount Pleasant SAFEST HIGHEST CRIME PROPERTY-HEAVY VIOLENT-HEAVY Safety grade A / B C D / F
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are South Carolina's statewide averages · the four largest cities are labeled
Read the chart as a list
  • Charleston: 358 violent, 2022 property per 100,000 (grade C)
  • Columbia: 770 violent, 3233 property per 100,000 (grade F)
  • North Charleston: 811 violent, 3956 property per 100,000 (grade F)
  • Mount Pleasant: 128 violent, 1172 property per 100,000 (grade A)
  • Rock Hill: 441 violent, 2348 property per 100,000 (grade D)
  • Greenville: 644 violent, 3468 property per 100,000 (grade F)
  • Summerville: 222 violent, 1768 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • Goose Creek: 257 violent, 1465 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • Greer: 344 violent, 1728 property per 100,000 (grade C)
  • Sumter: 1098 violent, 3706 property per 100,000 (grade F)
  • Myrtle Beach: 1112 violent, 5656 property per 100,000 (grade F)
  • Florence: 807 violent, 3919 property per 100,000 (grade F)
  • Spartanburg: 1480 violent, 5229 property per 100,000 (grade F)
  • Bluffton: 119 violent, 825 property per 100,000 (grade A)
F

South Carolina safety livability score: 22/100

Percentile-benchmarked against all 51 tracked states, 2024 FBI UCR data.

  • Violent crime rate

    439.3/100K · F (20th percentile)

  • Property crime rate

    1988.2/100K · F (24th percentile)

  • Murder rate

    N/A, dropped from score, weight redistributed

City Population Violent / 100K Grade
Charleston 156,898
357.6
C
Columbia 144,559
769.9
F
North Charleston 123,511
810.5
F
Mount Pleasant 96,608
128.4
A
Rock Hill 75,975
440.9
D
Greenville 73,405
644.4
F
Summerville 52,148
222.4
B
Goose Creek 50,294
256.5
B
Greer 47,690
343.9
C
Sumter 42,551
1,097.5
F
Myrtle Beach 41,022
1,111.6
F
Florence 40,781
806.7
F
Spartanburg 39,186
1,480.1
F
Bluffton 37,927
118.6
A
Fort Mill 37,027
45.9
A+
Aiken 33,221
568.9
F
Anderson 30,150
560.5
F
Mauldin 29,180
219.3
B
Conway 29,015
444.6
D
Simpsonville 28,952
214.1
C
Easley 27,617
239
B
North Augusta 26,377
34.1
A+
Lexington 25,359
118.3
A
Greenwood 22,478
484.9
F
Hanahan 22,205
225.2
B
North Myrtle Beach 20,790
360.8
D
West Columbia 18,591
747.7
F
Clemson 17,867
162.3
B
Moncks Corner 17,854
336.1
C
Port Royal 16,931
129.9
A
Tega Cay 14,456
27.7
A+
Fountain Inn 13,996
78.6
A
Beaufort 13,937
696
F
Hardeeville 13,740
160.1
B
Cayce 13,628
733.8
F
Orangeburg 13,320
1,246.2
F
Gaffney 12,399
225.8
C
Irmo 12,178
238.1
B
Newberry 10,926
585.8
F
Forest Acres 10,309
291
C
York 9,366
726
F
Lancaster 9,305
1,063.9
F
Laurens 9,263
928.4
F
Seneca 9,106
615
F
Travelers Rest 9,088
264.1
C
Georgetown 8,823
850.1
F
Camden 8,651
947.9
F
Union 7,795
975
F
Clinton 7,743
1,278.6
F
Clover 7,624
144.3
A
Hartsville 7,389
1,745.8
F
Lyman 6,886
203.3
B
Bennettsville 6,430
995.3
F
Dillon 6,240
2,371.8
F
Marion 6,123
881.9
F
Darlington 6,013
1,130.9
F
Lake City 5,937
1,802.3
F
Walterboro 5,465
1,006.4
F
Central 5,340
56.2
A
Batesburg-Leesville 5,309
772.3
F
Chester 5,212
1,554.1
F
Cheraw 4,984
1,163.7
F
Abbeville 4,863
370.1
C
Woodruff 4,689
383.9
C
Duncan 4,560
416.7
C
Barnwell 4,554
1,207.7
F
Isle of Palms 4,377
137.1
A
Surfside Beach 4,377
228.5
B
Williamston 4,275
678.4
F
Walhalla 4,239
235.9
B
Honea Path 3,902
692
F
Mullins 3,845
1,586.5
F
Manning 3,782
1,031.2
F
Ridgeland 3,751
426.6
D
Wellford 3,723
107.4
A
Pendleton 3,711
296.4
C
Pickens 3,388
295.2
C
Inman 3,334
359.9
C
Liberty 3,290
304
B
Burnettown 3,235
30.9
A
Denmark 3,077
650
F
Saluda 3,054
327.4
C
Kingstree 3,021
1,191.7
F
Bamberg 2,959
1,723.6
F
Loris 2,851
420.9
D
Williston 2,851
561.2
F
Bishopville 2,819
815.9
F
Landrum 2,769
216.7
B
Springdale 2,714
552.7
F
Hampton 2,579
620.4
F
Pacolet 2,543
314.6
C
Andrews 2,532
710.9
F
Pageland 2,514
1,949.1
F
Westminster 2,433
205.5
B
Allendale 2,430
2,263.4
F
South Congaree 2,389
209.3
B
New Ellenton 2,357
212.1
B
Pine Ridge 2,332
42.9
A
Cowpens 2,247
356
C
Timmonsville 2,106
569.8
F
Showing the 100 largest of 149 reporting cities. Browse all 149 cities → Or see the safest and most dangerous rankings.

Counties in South Carolina

44 of 46 Census county-equivalents (95.7%) appear in FBI Table 10 for this vintage. Missing counties are absent from the FBI source for this year, not dropped by PlainCrime. See national county coverage and methodology.

Largest counties in South Carolina, violent crime per 100K

The 7 of the 8 largest counties with complete FBI agency coverage, violent crime per 100,000 residents. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K
Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024

Not charted (Incomplete report): Horry. Its 2024 FBI agency coverage fails this site's completeness screen, so a rate here would read as unusually safe only because agencies did not report.

Abbeville
Aiken
Allendale
Anderson
Bamberg
Barnwell
Beaufort
Berkeley
Charleston
Cherokee
Chester
Chesterfield
Clarendon
Colleton
Darlington
Dillon
Dorchester
Edgefield
Fairfield
Florence
Georgetown
Greenville
Greenwood
Hampton
Horry
Jasper
Lancaster
Laurens
Lee
Lexington
Marion
Marlboro
McCormick
Newberry
Oconee
Orangeburg
Pickens
Richland
Saluda
Spartanburg
Sumter
Union
Williamsburg
York

Nationwide peers for South Carolina

Similar violent rate (~439.3/100K)

Similar property rate (~1,988.2/100K)

Nearby States

Pennsylvania
PA
Rhode Island
RI
South Dakota
SD
Tennessee
TN
Texas
TX

Safest cities · Most dangerous · Trends · National rankings · Crime grades · Compare · Methodology

Primary source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Crime in the United States annual release. State-level trends cross-check against the FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE) API.

Population figures for rate calculations reference U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI-reported populations are unavailable. Verify with Census.gov QuickFacts.

Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Put this to use

Put the South Carolina FBI UCR state file to work: open a city, a county, or a national ranking built from the same vintage.

Look up a city Municipal rates inside South Carolina Safest states ranking How this state sits on the national violent-rate ladder Compare cities Side-by-side rates for up to 4 cities

A statewide average hides city and county variation: open a local profile before treating the state figure as a place-level verdict.

Every figure on PlainCrime is rendered directly from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.