South Carolina Crime Rates & City Safety Scores
Population-adjusted FBI reporting rates; see the city profiles below.
Key facts
- 01
South Carolina displays a 23.47-point adjusted-score range in its 2025 source-year cohort: Charleston, South Carolina at 40.82 points out of 100 versus North Charleston, South Carolina at 17.35.
- 02
South Carolina displays 3 jurisdiction profiles from a scoring run containing 183 reportable jurisdictions in its 2025 source-year directory; 3 displayed profiles have scores.
- 03
South Carolina has 0 displayed jurisdictions with decreasing reported trajectories versus 2 increasing and 1 stable, comparing weighted 2024 reporting with 2025.
- 04
Charleston, South Carolina has a reporting population of 152,014 residents versus 117,460 in North Charleston, South Carolina, in the 2025 source-year displayed cohort.
Quick answer
In the Safety Atlas 2026 public safety index, the highest-scoring city in South Carolina is Charleston with an adjusted safety score of 40.82 out of 100, ranked across 3 tracked jurisdictions using 2025 FBI reporting.
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South Carolina city safety rankings
Ranked by adjusted Safety Atlas score. The table lists the 3 most populous jurisdictions in this directory; each rank is calculated within this displayed 3-jurisdiction cohort.
| City / Jurisdiction | Cohort Rank | Population | Safety Score | Overall Trend | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | #1 of 3 | 152,014 | 40.82 | ↑ Increasing | View Report → |
| Columbia | #2 of 3 | 138,019 | 23.86 | ↑ Increasing | View Report → |
| North Charleston | #3 of 3 | 117,460 | 17.35 | → Stable | View Report → |
* Trajectory trends compare weighted year-over-year reporting from 2024 to 2025. Scores describe relative reported rates, not personal risk. Cohort rank covers only the 3 jurisdictions listed above.
Data, definitions and reuse
Violent: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault. Property: burglary, larceny, vehicle theft, arson. Monthly counts are summed over the agencies that reported each month, and agency coverage changes over time.
| Month | Violent | Property | Agencies reporting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2740 | 12514 | 213 |
| Feb | 2480 | 11455 | 217 |
| Mar | 3127 | 12151 | 212 |
| Apr | 3207 | 12230 | 210 |
| May | 3130 | 13805 | 213 |
| Jun | 3011 | 12858 | 212 |
| Jul | 2906 | 12998 | 207 |
| Aug | 2684 | 12598 | 203 |
| Sep | 2565 | 12471 | 198 |
| Oct | 2487 | 12173 | 198 |
| Nov | 2507 | 11068 | 198 |
| Dec | 2364 | 10903 | 196 |
Reuse under CC BY 4.0; indicate changes. Embed code:
<img src="https://www.safetyatlas.us/img/charts/south-carolina-crime-trend-2025.webp" alt="Chart of South Carolina crime statistics: South Carolina agencies reported 33,208 violent offenses in 2025. Between 196 to 217 agencies reported each month, so the total is not compared with 2024. Shows violent and property offenses per month." width="1200" height="675" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%;height:auto">
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.safetyatlas.us/safety/sc/">Safety Atlas, South Carolina</a>. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>.</p>
South Carolina in 7 numbers
- Every major offense fell in 2025. Motor vehicle theft -25% (18,512 to 13,894), robbery -22%, homicide -18%, burglary -17%, larceny-theft -14%, aggravated assault -13%.
- Almost half of all reports are property crime. 178,918 of 448,857 reports (39.9%); larceny-theft alone is 111,973 (24.9%).
- Clearances skew toward violent crime. 82% of homicides cleared vs 18% of motor vehicle thefts and 21% of burglaries (2025, reports cleared divided by reports received, reporting agencies only).
- Homicides fell by nearly a fifth. 699 reports in 2025 vs 852 in 2024 (-18%) across reporting agencies.
- The biggest volume is not violent. Simple assault (89,718) alone outweighs the entire personal-safety total (34,768, 7.7% of reports).
- Watch the monthly shape. Larceny-theft peaked in May (10,536) and troughed in Nov (8,436), a 1.2× swing inside a single year.
- These are reporting-agency sums. 144 of 231 agencies reported motor vehicle theft in December 2025 (vs 160 in January); totals reflect who reported, not a census of crime.
Takeaways are computed from summed FBI CDE reported counts (source year 2025, 231 agencies in file). They describe reported data, not forecasts; check the methodology and coverage notes before reuse.
Every number on this page ships in the South Carolina workbook.
South Carolina monthly trend: reporting-agency sums through December 2025
Annual totals hide timing. The bars below show 2025 reported counts per month summed across reporting agencies for three indicator offenses. Counts only; there is no honest monthly denominator at this grain, so no rates are shown.
Larceny-theft, month by month
↓ Decreasing, 111973 reports vs 130142 in 2024 (down 14% in reported data).
| Month | Count | Agencies | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 9,364 | 162 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 8,581 | 165 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 9,250 | 161 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 9,333 | 159 | Full |
| May 2025 | 10,536 | 164 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 9,787 | 162 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 9,859 | 158 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 9,533 | 154 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 9,544 | 149 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 9,311 | 148 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 8,436 | 150 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 8,439 | 146 | Full |
Simple assault, month by month
→ Stable, 89718 reports vs 96479 in 2024 (about level in reported data).
| Month | Count | Agencies | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 6,866 | 169 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 7,323 | 172 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 8,405 | 168 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 8,121 | 166 | Full |
| May 2025 | 8,218 | 171 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 7,407 | 169 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 7,187 | 165 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 7,845 | 160 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 7,856 | 156 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 7,224 | 154 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 7,075 | 156 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 6,191 | 153 | Full |
Drug/Narcotic Violations, month by month
→ Stable, 62740 reports vs 61719 in 2024 (about level in reported data).
| Month | Count | Agencies | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 4,863 | 168 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 5,261 | 171 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 5,793 | 167 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 5,656 | 165 | Full |
| May 2025 | 5,978 | 169 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 4,965 | 167 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 5,196 | 163 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 5,395 | 158 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 5,016 | 154 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 5,077 | 152 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 4,966 | 154 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 4,574 | 151 | Full |
Clearances: what got cleared in 2025
82% of homicides cleared vs 18% of motor vehicle thefts, clearance follows violent crime, not volume.
| Offense | Reported | Cleared | Clearance rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 699 | 570 | 81.5% |
| Aggravated Assault | 27,010 | 14,531 | 53.8% |
| Robbery | 2,510 | 1,053 | 42.0% |
| Burglary | 20,560 | 4,366 | 21.2% |
| Larceny-theft | 111,973 | 27,014 | 24.1% |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 13,894 | 2,557 | 18.4% |
Clearances ÷ reports received; clearances may concern earlier reports, so this is not a solve rate.
Monthly counts summed over reporting agencies, FBI CDE source year 2025. A hyphen (-) means not reported, not zero. Totals reflect who reported, not a census of crime.
Downloads: South Carolina monthly series (JSON) · same data (CSV) · build manifest
South Carolina city reports
- Charleston safety report: #1 of 3, population 152,014, score 40.82, and the displayed trajectory is ↑ Increasing.
- Columbia safety report: #2 of 3, population 138,019, score 23.86, and the displayed trajectory is ↑ Increasing.
- North Charleston safety report: #3 of 3, population 117,460, score 17.35, and the displayed trajectory is → Stable.
Reading the comparison
Scores compare reported rates; they do not predict personal risk. Methodology · Coverage
Monthly count comparisons
South Carolina reporting agencies recorded 10,536 larceny-theft offenses in May 2025 versus 8,436 in Nov 2025, a difference of 2,100 reports; 164 agencies reported in the peak-count month compared with 150 in the minimum-count month, within 12 displayed months totaling 111,973 reports (FBI CDE reporting-agency sums, not statewide population rates).
South Carolina reporting agencies recorded 8,405 simple assault offenses in Mar 2025 versus 6,191 in Dec 2025, a difference of 2,214 reports; 168 agencies reported in the peak-count month compared with 153 in the minimum-count month, within 12 displayed months totaling 89,718 reports (FBI CDE reporting-agency sums, not statewide population rates).
South Carolina reporting agencies recorded 5,978 drug/narcotic violations offenses in May 2025 versus 4,574 in Dec 2025, a difference of 1,404 reports; 169 agencies reported in the peak-count month compared with 151 in the minimum-count month, within 12 displayed months totaling 62,740 reports (FBI CDE reporting-agency sums, not statewide population rates).
South Carolina reporting agencies recorded 570 cleared homicide offenses against 699 reports received in 2025 (81.5%), compared with 2,557 cleared motor vehicle theft offenses against 13,894 reports (18.4%), a 63.1-percentage-point difference between the displayed clearance ratios; clearances can concern earlier reports.
Charleston, South Carolina records 40.82 adjusted score points out of 100 in the 2025 source-year directory, 13.48 points above the displayed scored-cohort mean of 27.34; its reporting population of 152,014 residents accounts for 37.3% of the 407,493 residents summed across the 3 displayed jurisdiction populations.
North Charleston, South Carolina records 17.35 adjusted score points out of 100 in the 2025 source-year directory, 9.99 points below the displayed scored-cohort mean of 27.34; its reporting population of 117,460 residents accounts for 28.8% of the 407,493 residents summed across the 3 displayed jurisdiction populations.
Columbia, South Carolina records 23.86 adjusted score points out of 100 in the 2025 source-year directory, 3.48 points below the displayed scored-cohort mean of 27.34; its reporting population of 138,019 residents accounts for 33.9% of the 407,493 residents summed across the 3 displayed jurisdiction populations.
South Carolina reporting-agency sums contain 111,973 larceny-theft reports in 2025 versus 130,142 in 2024, 18,169 reports (14.0%) fewer across the two complete twelve-month source series; monthly reporting participation ranges from 146 to 172 agencies across those years, so the count change includes differences in participation and is not a population-adjusted rate change.
South Carolina reporting-agency sums contain 89,718 simple assault reports in 2025 versus 96,479 in 2024, 6,761 reports (7.0%) fewer across the two complete twelve-month source series; monthly reporting participation ranges from 153 to 178 agencies across those years, so the count change includes differences in participation and is not a population-adjusted rate change.
South Carolina reporting-agency sums contain 43,357 vandalism reports in 2025 versus 49,589 in 2024, 6,232 reports (12.6%) fewer across the two complete twelve-month source series; monthly reporting participation ranges from 152 to 178 agencies across those years, so the count change includes differences in participation and is not a population-adjusted rate change.
How to read the South Carolina directory
The scoring run contains 183 reportable jurisdictions in South Carolina. This public directory displays the 3 most populous jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set, and each displayed city's rank is calculated within this displayed 3-jurisdiction cohort.
Within the displayed cohort, Charleston has the highest adjusted score at 40.82, and North Charleston has the lowest at 17.35. The public-cohort range is 23.47 points; use the offense-rate tables on each city profile to understand that spread.
Current trajectories in the displayed cohort: 0 decreasing, 1 stable, and 2 increasing. Trends compare weighted 2024 and 2025 reporting and do not forecast future incidents.
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