Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Charleston records more violent crime than 78% of U.S. towns
Counting crimes Charleston’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #32 of 87 graded towns in South Carolina, and #127 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. By contrast, the crimes the grade counts fell 21% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Violence and property crime split as 3.5 violent crimes and 18.7 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 5.3 and 28.1 in the rest of South Carolina. Among its 5 neighbors with figures, 4 record less crime per resident.
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 Charleston
4 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 South Carolina towns on Charleston’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Mount Pleasant (B−), Hanahan (B−), Goose Creek (C+), Folly Beach (C), North Charleston (D−). James Island and Hollywood have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among South Carolina towns, closer to the middle
South Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Charleston’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 63% of the 87 South Carolina towns we grade, against 24% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Charleston’s police reported 10 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 5.7 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of South Carolina (9.4) and about the same as all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of South Carolina
45.0 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (63 reported in 2025), below the rest of South Carolina (56.9) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Charleston reports less crime per resident than 61% (#127). Places like it ↓
A job center
Charleston has 104,618 jobs based in town for 159,423 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
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 Charleston’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (3.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston property | Rest of South Carolina property | Charleston violent | Rest of South Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.9 | 32.2 | 3.7 | 5.9 |
| 2023 | 19.8 | 31.4 | 4.0 | 5.8 |
| 2024 | 20.2 | 28.4 | 3.6 | 5.5 |
| 2025 | 16.0 | 24.4 | 2.8 | 4.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.3 | 15.3 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 6.4 | 10.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 4.5 | 9.9 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 6.3 | 7.3 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 47.9 | 63.6 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 52.8 | 65.0 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 42.7 | 59.7 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 39.5 | 45.9 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Charleston’s police reported 10 homicides, 63 robberies and 446 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of South Carolina and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Crime in Charleston per 1,000 residents
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.
And about 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
3,001 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
446 violent and 2,555 property, as reported to the FBI by Charleston’s police.
99 people died in crashes on Charleston’s roads in 2019–2023
Charleston had 92 fatal crashes in five years, in which 99 people died; 33 were pedestrians and 5 were cyclists. 8 died in crashes on an Interstate.
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.
Charleston and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | C− | 3.5 | 18.7 |
| James Island | — | — | — |
| Hollywood | — | — | — |
| Folly Beach | C | 2.7 | 16.0 |
| North Charleston | D− | 8.0 | 40.0 |
| Mount Pleasant | B− | 1.3 | 11.6 |
| Goose Creek | C+ | 2.6 | 14.0 |
| Hanahan | B− | 2.2 | 12.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. James Island and Hollywood have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
South Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | C− | 3.5 | 18.7 |
| Columbia | D | 7.7 | 32.7 |
The five graded South Carolina towns closest to Charleston’s population (159,423), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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 Charleston. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Charleston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (159,360 in 2025); our figure for Charleston is 159,423 (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 Charleston
Is Charleston, SC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Charleston reports more crime per resident than 76% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #32 of 87 in South Carolina. Its police reported 3.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.3 in the rest of South Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Charleston?
3.5 violent and 18.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Carolina reports 5.3 and 28.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Charleston in 2025?
Charleston’s police reported 10 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 6.3 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Charleston safer than Folly Beach?
Folly Beach reports less crime per resident than Charleston: Folly Beach grades C for safety and Charleston C−. Folly Beach’s police reported 2.7 violent and 16.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Charleston?
Charleston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Charleston”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Charleston.
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.