Safest Places to Live in South Carolina of September 2024

Last Update: March 11, 2023 • 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 September 2024

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 September 2024

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:

0 Shares

MEET THE AUTHOR

ElitePersonalFinance

Profile

Safest Places by State in 2024

Auto Loans

Debt Consolidation Loans

Student Loans

Personal Loans by Credit Score

Bad Credit Loans

Mortgage Rates

Business Loans

Calculators

Loan Rankings By Credit Score

Loan Rankings By Type

Guides

Best Loans by State

Rankings

Guides

Top Picks

Rankings

Guides

Top Picks

Safest Places to Live in South Carolina of September 2024

Ranking Criteria

30 Safest Places in South Carolina of September 2024

Crime Score in All Cities in South Carolina of September 2024

Under 3,000 Residents

3,000 – 10,000 Residents

10,000 – 30,000 Residents

Over 30,000 Residents

MEET THE AUTHOR

ElitePersonalFinance

Recommended Articles

These Are The Cities with The Most (and Least) Student Loan Debt of September 2024

Safest Places to Live in New Hampshire of September 2024

Safest Places to Live in Maine of September 2024

AS SEEN ON