Photo: Nicholemacgregor · CC BY-SA 4.0Reported crime per resident in Lexington rose 1141% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Lexington grades B for safety (#6 of 87 graded towns in South Carolina): less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Lexington
Lexington reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 South Carolina towns on Lexington’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: West Columbia (D−). Red Bank is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among South Carolina towns, higher
South Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Lexington’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 93% of the 87 South Carolina towns we grade, against 63% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Lexington has 17,165 jobs based in town for 25,729 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Lexington’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime is rising
Reported crime per resident rose 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 | Lexington property | Rest of South Carolina property | Lexington violent | Rest of South Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.4 | 31.3 | 2.4 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 0.9 | 30.8 | 0.2 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 15.7 | 27.9 | 1.2 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 11.6 | 23.8 | 1.7 | 4.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Lexington’s police reported 78 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.0 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 | Lexington | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.4 | 5.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.2 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.7 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 12 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.
344 crimes reported in 2025
44 violent and 300 property, as reported to the FBI by Lexington’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Five people died in crashes on Lexington’s roads in 2019–2023
Lexington had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is fewer than 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 Lexington’s size would see about 11 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lexington’s own rate (4.1) 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.
Lexington and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | B | 1.0 | 9.4 |
| Red Bank | — | — | — |
| West Columbia | D− | 6.5 | 43.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Red Bank is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
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 Lexington. 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 Lexington’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (25,799 in 2025); our figure for Lexington is 25,729 (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 Lexington
Is Lexington, SC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lexington reports less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #6 of 87 in South Carolina. Its police reported 1.0 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 Lexington?
1.0 violent and 9.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Carolina reports 5.2 and 27.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Lexington?
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Lexington in 2025?
Lexington’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Lexington safer than West Columbia?
West Columbia reports more crime per resident than Lexington: West Columbia grades D− for safety and Lexington B. West Columbia’s police reported 6.5 violent and 43.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lexington?
Lexington’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lexington”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lexington.
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.