Photo: Akhenaton06 · CC BY-SA 3.0Columbia reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Columbia’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #58 of 87 graded towns in South Carolina, and #269 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Columbia
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 8 South Carolina towns on Columbia’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Forest Acres (D), West Columbia (D−). St. Andrews, Capitol View, Dentsville, Arthurtown and Seven Oaks are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Irmo reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among South Carolina towns, closer to the middle
South Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Columbia’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 33% of the 87 South Carolina towns we grade, against 5% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Columbia’s police reported 19 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 10.2 per 100,000 residents a year, above the rest of South Carolina (9.0) and 1.8 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 1.8 times the rest of South Carolina
94.7 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (101 reported in 2025), 1.8 times the rest of South Carolina (52.5) and above 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, Columbia reports less crime per resident than 17% (#269). Places like it ↓
A college town
Columbia is home to the University of South Carolina-Columbia, with 33,511 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 19% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Columbia has 132,487 jobs based in town for 147,035 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Columbia’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.
For every 1,000 residents, about 31 property crimes reported
And about 8 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.
Homicides and robberies
Columbia’s police reported 19 homicides, 101 robberies and 1,157 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.
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.4 | 14.9 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 7.8 | 10.8 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 12.9 | 6.7 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 72.6 | 61.4 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 107 | 60.2 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 109 | 54.1 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 68.7 | 43.3 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of South Carolina.
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia property | Rest of South Carolina property | Columbia violent | Rest of South Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 28.6 | 31.3 | 6.0 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 34.7 | 30.0 | 7.6 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 32.3 | 27.4 | 7.7 | 5.2 |
| 2025 | 31.3 | 23.0 | 7.9 | 4.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
5,762 crimes reported in 2025
1,157 violent and 4,605 property, as reported to the FBI by Columbia’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
102 people died in crashes on Columbia’s roads in 2019–2023
Columbia had 98 fatal crashes in five years, in which 102 people died; 44 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 24 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.
Columbia and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | D | 7.7 | 32.7 |
| St. Andrews | — | — | — |
| Capitol View | — | — | — |
| Forest Acres | D | 3.7 | 32.8 |
| Dentsville | — | — | — |
| Arthurtown | — | — | — |
| West Columbia | D− | 6.5 | 43.1 |
| Seven Oaks | — | — | — |
| Irmo | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. St. Andrews, Capitol View, Dentsville, Arthurtown and Seven Oaks are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Irmo reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
South Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | D | 7.7 | 32.7 |
| Mount Pleasant | B− | 1.3 | 11.6 |
| Charleston | C− | 3.5 | 18.7 |
| Rock Hill | C− | 4.5 | 24.0 |
| Greenville | D | 5.7 | 33.5 |
| North Charleston | D− | 8.0 | 40.0 |
The five graded South Carolina towns closest to Columbia’s population (147,035), 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 Columbia. 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 Columbia’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (147,021 in 2025); our figure for Columbia is 147,035 (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 Columbia
Is Columbia, SC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Columbia reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #58 of 87 in South Carolina. Its police reported 7.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of South Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Columbia?
7.7 violent and 32.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Carolina reports 4.9 and 26.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Columbia?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Columbia in 2025?
Columbia’s police reported 19 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 12.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Columbia safer than Forest Acres?
Forest Acres reports less crime per resident than Columbia: Forest Acres grades D for safety and Columbia D. Forest Acres’s police reported 3.7 violent and 32.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Columbia?
Columbia’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Columbia”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Columbia.
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.