Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0Who polices Oak Grove, and what they report
The nearest town with a Safety Grade is Springdale, 3 miles away, graded D. Oak Grove has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Lexington County. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Oak Grove alone, and no Safety Grade. The surrounding 10 miles hold 6 graded places to compare with.
What stands out about safety in Oak Grove
Policed by the county
Oak Grove is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Oak Grove. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest South Carolina towns with their own police figures are Springdale (D, 3 mi), West Columbia (D−, 3 mi), Lexington (B, 4 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Oak Grove. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Lexington County without police of their own, which include Oak Grove.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest South Carolina towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springdale | D | 3 mi | 6.4 | 24.8 |
| West Columbia | D− | 3 mi | 6.5 | 43.1 |
| Lexington | B | 4 mi | 1.0 | 9.4 |
| South Congaree | C | 5 mi | 2.5 | 18.0 |
| Pine Ridge | A− | 7 mi | 0.6 | 7.7 |
| Cayce | D | 7 mi | 6.9 | 26.9 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Oak Grove. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Oak Grove.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Three people died in crashes on Oak Grove’s roads in 2019–2023
Oak Grove had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what 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 Oak Grove’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Oak Grove’s own rate (4.9) 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.
Oak Grove and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Columbia | D− | 6.5 | 43.1 |
| Springdale | D | 6.4 | 24.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- 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 Oak Grove
Is Oak Grove, SC safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Oak Grove. The nearest South Carolina towns with a grade are Springdale (D, 3 mi), West Columbia (D−, 3 mi), Lexington (B, 4 mi).
Who polices Oak Grove?
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Office. Oak Grove is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Lexington County without police of their own.
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 Oak Grove.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 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.