Photo: Melikamp · CC BY-SA 3.0North Myrtle Beach sees more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns
Violent crime here is higher than in 79% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 95%. By contrast, the rate the grade counts dropped 7% from 2023 to 2025. The grade is D, built on crimes North Myrtle Beach’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #47 of 87 graded towns in South Carolina. Police counts work out at 3.7 violent crimes and 36.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of South Carolina they are 5.2 and 27.2.
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 North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 South Carolina towns on North Myrtle Beach’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Myrtle Beach (D−). Little River is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among South Carolina towns, closer to the middle
South Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so North Myrtle Beach’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 46% of the 87 South Carolina towns we grade, against 9% 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 North Myrtle 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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Crime in North Myrtle Beach 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | North Myrtle Beach property | Rest of South Carolina property | North Myrtle Beach violent | Rest of South Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 43.4 | 30.9 | 4.5 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 40.1 | 30.3 | 4.5 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 32.2 | 27.7 | 3.6 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 38.5 | 23.5 | 3.0 | 4.5 |
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | North Myrtle Beach | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
North Myrtle Beach’s police reported 230 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.2 in the rest of South Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
884 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.
64 violent and 820 property, as reported to the FBI by North Myrtle Beach’s police.
24 people died in crashes on North Myrtle Beach’s roads in 2019–2023
North Myrtle Beach had 23 fatal crashes in five years, in which 24 people died; 4 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 24.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for South Carolina towns of 5,000–25,000 people (8.8, 79 towns).
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.
North Myrtle Beach and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Myrtle Beach | D | 3.7 | 36.9 |
| Little River | — | — | — |
| Myrtle Beach | D− | 10.7 | 56.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Little River is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
South Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Myrtle Beach | D | 3.7 | 36.9 |
| Hanahan | B− | 2.2 | 12.0 |
| Clemson | C+ | 1.3 | 17.7 |
| Moncks Corner | C | 3.2 | 19.2 |
| Greenwood | D | 5.5 | 35.0 |
| West Columbia | D− | 6.5 | 43.1 |
The five graded South Carolina towns closest to North Myrtle Beach’s population (21,346), 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 North Myrtle 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 North Myrtle Beach’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (21,295 in 2025); our figure for North Myrtle Beach is 21,346 (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 North Myrtle Beach
Is North Myrtle Beach, SC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, North Myrtle Beach reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #47 of 87 in South Carolina. Its police reported 3.7 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 North Myrtle Beach?
3.7 violent and 36.9 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 North Myrtle Beach safer than Myrtle Beach?
Myrtle Beach reports more crime per resident than North Myrtle Beach: Myrtle Beach grades D− for safety and North Myrtle Beach D. Myrtle Beach’s police reported 10.7 violent and 56.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices North Myrtle Beach?
North Myrtle Beach’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “North Myrtle Beach”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in North Myrtle Beach.
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.