Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Folly Beach reports more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Folly Beach’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C for safety.
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 Folly Beach
Folly Beach reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 1 South Carolina towns on Folly Beach’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Charleston (C−). Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Folly Beach’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 (2.7) 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. Its property rate (16.0) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Folly Beach’s police reported 17 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.7 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 | Folly Beach | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.9 | 5.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.9 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 13 property crimes reported
And about 2 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.
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, 2023–2025, against the rest of South Carolina.
Show as a table
| Year | Folly Beach property | Rest of South Carolina property | Folly Beach violent | Rest of South Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 12.0 | 30.4 | 2.9 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 22.6 | 27.7 | 3.4 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 13.4 | 23.7 | 1.9 | 4.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
32 crimes reported in 2025
4 violent and 28 property, as reported to the FBI by Folly Beach’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Three people died in crashes on Folly Beach’s roads in 2019–2023
Folly Beach had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for South Carolina towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (9.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Folly Beach’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Folly Beach’s own rate (47.4) 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.
Folly Beach and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Folly Beach | C | 2.7 | 16.0 |
| Charleston | C− | 3.5 | 18.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
South Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Folly Beach | C | 2.7 | 16.0 |
| Sullivan's Island | B+ | 0.2 | 9.5 |
| Ninety Six | C+ | 3.4 | 9.9 |
| Blacksburg | C | 2.9 | 17.8 |
| McCormick | C− | 2.7 | 28.6 |
| Timmonsville | D | 8.9 | 24.3 |
The five graded South Carolina towns closest to Folly Beach’s population (2,081), 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 Folly Beach. 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 Folly Beach’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,086 in 2025); our figure for Folly Beach is 2,081 (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 Folly Beach
Is Folly Beach, SC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Folly Beach reports more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade. Its police reported 2.7 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 Folly Beach?
2.7 violent and 16.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Carolina reports 5.2 and 27.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Folly Beach?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Folly Beach safer than Charleston?
Charleston reports more crime per resident than Folly Beach: Charleston grades C− for safety and Folly Beach C. Charleston’s police reported 3.5 violent and 18.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Folly Beach?
Folly Beach’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Folly Beach”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Folly Beach.
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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.