Photo: BeaufortTiger of English Wikipedia · Public domainBeaufort reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Beaufort’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #44 of 87 graded towns in South Carolina.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of SC” is every other South Carolina city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Beaufort
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 South Carolina towns on Beaufort’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Port Royal (B−). Burton and Laurel Bay are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among South Carolina towns, closer to the middle
South Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Beaufort’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 49% of the 87 South Carolina towns we grade, against 10% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Beaufort’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of South Carolina.
Show as a table
| Year | Beaufort property | Rest of South Carolina property | Beaufort violent | Rest of South Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 30.5 | 31.1 | 3.3 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 37.1 | 30.4 | 5.0 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 35.7 | 27.7 | 7.0 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 18.0 | 23.7 | 2.7 | 4.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 18 property crimes reported
And about 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Beaufort’s police reported 205 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.2 in the rest of South Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Beaufort | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.3 | 5.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 7.0 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
300 crimes reported in 2025
39 violent and 261 property, as reported to the FBI by Beaufort’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Eight people died in crashes on Beaufort’s roads in 2019–2023
Beaufort had 8 fatal crashes in five years, in which eight people died; 2 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists.
That is about what is typical for South Carolina towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (8.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Beaufort’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Beaufort’s own rate (11.6) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Beaufort and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort | D | 4.9 | 30.1 |
| Burton | — | — | — |
| Port Royal | B− | 1.4 | 12.6 |
| Laurel Bay | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Burton and Laurel Bay are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
South Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort | D | 4.9 | 30.1 |
| Tega Cay | A− | 0.4 | 6.0 |
| Fountain Inn | B− | 2.1 | 10.7 |
| Hardeeville | B− | 1.5 | 14.4 |
| Cayce | D | 6.9 | 26.9 |
| West Columbia | D− | 6.5 | 43.1 |
The five graded South Carolina towns closest to Beaufort’s population (15,775), by grade.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Beaufort. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Beaufort’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (14,521 in 2025); our figure for Beaufort is 15,775 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Beaufort
Is Beaufort, SC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Beaufort reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #44 of 87 in South Carolina. Its police reported 4.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.2 in the rest of South Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Beaufort?
4.9 violent and 30.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Carolina reports 5.2 and 27.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Beaufort?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Beaufort safer than Port Royal?
Port Royal reports less crime per resident than Beaufort: Port Royal grades B− for safety and Beaufort D. Port Royal’s police reported 1.4 violent and 12.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Beaufort?
Beaufort’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Beaufort”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Beaufort.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.