Advertiser Disclosure

Safest Places to Live in South Carolina of January 2025

Elite Personal Finance
Last Update: December 1, 2024 • Living •

South Carolina is located on the East Coast of the United States, in its southeastern part. It borders Georgia to the south and west and its sister, North Carolina, to the north.

South Carolina is the 23rd most populous state globally, being home to around 5 million Americans. The state’s capital is Columbia; Charleston is the largest city (around 135,000 residents), the greatest metropolitan area in Greenville.

The state was named after King Charles I, who formed the colony. The culture of the state is a mix of colonial, African, and European heritage. South Carolina’s economy has been steadily increasing, reaching an annual growth rate of 3.13% and over $183 billion in 2013.

Ranking Criteria

ElitePersonalFinance extracted the latest data from the FBI crime statistics in the United States. We took violent crime as the main criteria. To get our score, we used this formula:

Crime Score = ( Total Number of Violent Crimes / Population ) * 1,000

This way, safer cities got the lowest score, and those more vulnerable to crimes got higher scores.

The cities that did not report crimes to the FBI and those under 3,000 residents were not included in the list.

30 Safest Places in South Carolina of January 2025

Rank: City: Population: Total Number of Crimes: Crime Score:
1 Central 5 380 1 0,19
2 Isle of Palms 4 366 1 0,23
3 Tega Cay 11 322 5 0,44
4 Woodruff 4 356 3 0,69
5 Travelers Rest 5 339 5 0,94
6 Fort Mill 21 219 22 1,04
7 Mount Pleasant 92 448 105 1,14
8 Walhalla 4 384 7 1,60
9 Clemson 17 547 32 1,82
10 Bluffton 24 812 46 1,85
11 Simpsonville 23 682 46 1,94
12 Duncan 3 573 7 1,96
13 Hanahan 26 941 55 2,04
14 Mauldin 25 453 57 2,24
15 North Augusta 23 875 55 2,30
16 Saluda 3 641 9 2,47
17 Clover 6 575 19 2,89
18 Port Royal 13 368 40 2,99
19 Irmo 12 516 39 3,12
20 Honea Path 3 810 12 3,15
21 Lexington 22 160 72 3,25
22 Belton 4 434 15 3,38
23 Summerville 52 886 186 3,52
24 Charleston 138 254 516 3,73
25 Walterboro 5 429 21 3,87
26 North Myrtle Beach 16 942 71 4,19
27 Conway 26 127 111 4,25
28 Beaufort 13 485 58 4,30
29 Greer 32 976 143 4,34
30 Fountain Inn 10 375 45 4,34

Crime Score in All Cities in South Carolina of January 2025

If your city didn’t make our list, you could see our full list of South Carolina cities.

We can’t compare crime rates in small and large cities. That’s why ElitePersonalFinance made a detailed analysis and narrowed the results according to population segments:

  • Under 3,000 Residents
  • 3,000 – 10,000 Residents
  • 10,000 – 30,000 Residents
  • Over 30,000 Residents

(Other sites don’t include places with under 3,000 residents, but we included them.)

These are the results that we got:

Under 3,000 Residents

Rank: City: Population: Total Number of Crimes: Crime Score:
1 Salem 152 0 0,00
2 West Union 325 0 0,00
3 Cameron 396 0 0,00
4 Society Hill 533 0 0,00
5 Quinby 927 0 0,00
6 Due West 1 240 0 0,00
7 Burnettown 2 751 1 0,36
8 Wellford 2 697 1 0,37
9 Sullivans Island 1 938 1 0,52
10 Johnsonville 1 494 1 0,67
11 South Congaree 2 483 2 0,81
12 Ninety Six 2 039 2 0,98
13 Branchville 952 1 1,05
14 Wagener 838 1 1,19
15 Inman 2 404 3 1,25
16 Cowpens 2 408 4 1,66
17 Chapin 1 653 3 1,81
18 Whitmire 1 469 3 2,04
19 Jackson 1 792 4 2,23
20 Gaston 1 692 4 2,36
21 Jonesville 834 2 2,40
22 Edisto Beach 406 1 2,46
23 Chesterfield 1 415 4 2,83
24 Pelion 704 2 2,84
25 Aynor 994 3 3,02
26 Clio 660 2 3,03
27 Iva 1 311 4 3,05
28 Chesnee 948 3 3,16
29 Prosperity 1 219 4 3,28
30 Pacolet 2 502 9 3,60
31 Elgin 1 612 6 3,72
32 Great Falls 1 875 7 3,73
33 Westminster 2 570 10 3,89
34 Springdale 2 753 11 4,00
35 McCormick 2 298 10 4,35
36 Scranton 864 4 4,63
37 St. Matthews 1 900 9 4,74
38 Hemingway 400 2 5,00
39 Swansea 959 5 5,21
40 Coward 767 4 5,22
41 Blacksburg 1 883 10 5,31
42 Pamplico 1 221 7 5,73
43 Williston 2 907 17 5,85
44 Ehrhardt 481 3 6,24
45 Lamar 937 6 6,40
46 Eutawville 292 2 6,85
47 Calhoun Falls 1 912 14 7,32
48 Ridge Spring 758 6 7,92
49 Holly Hill 1 181 10 8,47
50 New Ellenton 2 145 20 9,32
51 Summerton 939 9 9,58
52 St. Stephen 1 809 18 9,95
53 Hampton 2 499 26 10,40
54 Blackville 2 194 23 10,48
55 Denmark 2 924 31 10,60
56 Ware Shoals 2 156 23 10,67
57 Jamestown 83 1 12,05
58 Loris 2 740 34 12,41
59 McColl 1 981 28 14,13
60 Latta 1 288 20 15,53
61 Bowman 904 16 17,70
62 Yemassee 954 17 17,82
63 Estill 1 855 37 19,95
64 Allendale 2 924 76 25,99
65 Bishopville 2 927 86 29,38

3,000 – 10,000 Residents

Rank: City: Population: Total Number of Crimes: Crime Score:
1 Central 5 380 1 0,19
2 Isle of Palms 4 366 1 0,23
3 Woodruff 4 356 3 0,69
4 Travelers Rest 5 339 5 0,94
5 Walhalla 4 384 7 1,60
6 Duncan 3 573 7 1,96
7 Saluda 3 641 9 2,47
8 Clover 6 575 19 2,89
9 Honea Path 3 810 12 3,15
10 Belton 4 434 15 3,38
11 Walterboro 5 429 21 3,87
12 Bamberg 3 195 16 5,01
13 Kingstree 3 026 17 5,62
14 Seneca 8 525 50 5,87
15 Pickens 3 171 19 5,99
16 Lyman 3 661 24 6,56
17 Liberty 3 152 21 6,66
18 Bennettsville 7 726 53 6,86
19 Winnsboro 3 165 23 7,27
20 Williamston 4 249 31 7,30
21 Hardeeville 7 075 53 7,49
22 Clinton 8 412 66 7,85
23 York 8 294 67 8,08
24 Marion 6 373 55 8,63
25 Laurens 8 823 80 9,07
26 Abbeville 5 017 47 9,37
27 Mullins 4 290 41 9,56
28 Union 7 694 76 9,88
29 Cheraw 5 589 61 10,91
30 Batesburg-Leesville 5 389 61 11,32
31 Camden 7 242 86 11,88
32 Georgetown 8 733 107 12,25
33 Hartsville 7 524 108 14,35
34 Darlington 5 886 87 14,78
35 Manning 3 921 58 14,79
36 Chester 5 368 82 15,28
37 Lake City 6 541 112 17,12
38 Barnwell 4 321 89 20,60

10,000 – 30,000 Residents

Rank: City: Population: Total Number of Crimes: Crime Score:
1 Tega Cay 11 322 5 0,44
2 Fort Mill 21 219 22 1,04
3 Clemson 17 547 32 1,82
4 Bluffton 24 812 46 1,85
5 Simpsonville 23 682 46 1,94
6 Hanahan 26 941 55 2,04
7 Mauldin 25 453 57 2,24
8 North Augusta 23 875 55 2,30
9 Port Royal 13 368 40 2,99
10 Irmo 12 516 39 3,12
11 Lexington 22 160 72 3,25
12 North Myrtle Beach 16 942 71 4,19
13 Conway 26 127 111 4,25
14 Beaufort 13 485 58 4,30
15 Fountain Inn 10 375 45 4,34
16 Easley 21 390 98 4,58
17 Moncks Corner 11 986 55 4,59
18 Forest Acres 10 320 64 6,20
19 Newberry 10 333 72 6,97
20 West Columbia 17 986 127 7,06
21 Gaffney 12 528 102 8,14
22 Cayce 14 211 138 9,71
23 Greenwood 23 427 350 14,94

Over 30,000 Residents

Rank: City: Population: Total Number of Crimes: Crime Score:
1 Mount Pleasant 92 448 105 1,14
2 Summerville 52 886 186 3,52
3 Charleston 138 254 516 3,73
4 Greer 32 976 143 4,34
5 Aiken 30 922 178 5,76
6 Greenville 69 830 402 5,76
7 Rock Hill 75 342 498 6,61
8 Columbia 133 790 1 037 7,75
9 North Charleston 115 312 1 114 9,66
10 Sumter 39 546 418 10,57
11 Spartanburg 37 754 448 11,87
12 Florence 37 640 447 11,88
13 Myrtle Beach 34 860 415 11,90

How safe do you feel?

Is your city safe enough? Are you worried because of the crime rate in your town? Do you have any thoughts on safety levels in the country?

If you want to share anything, feel free to leave a comment. That way, you can help us understand your perspective better.

Thank you!

Archives

Sources:

Tweet
Share
Pin
Share
0 Shares
MEET THE AUTHOR

Elite Personal Finance

Profile
Safest Places by State in 2025
Recent posts

Best Bad Credit Loans in Texas of January 2025

Best Bad Credit Loans in California of January 2025

Best Bad Credit Loans in New York of January 2025

Best Quick Loans for Fast Cash of January 2025

Best Emergency Loans for Bad Credit of January 2025


Categories

Recommended Articles

Debt

These Are The Cities with The Most (and Least) Student Loan Debt of January 2025

EPF June 14, 2018
Debt

Safest Places to Live in New Hampshire of January 2025

EPF December 18, 2017
Debt

Safest Places to Live in Maine of January 2025

EPF December 18, 2017

AS SEEN ON