Tombee Plantation · Photo: Gwringle · CC BY-SA 3.0Port Royal is about average among U.S. towns for recorded crime
Its police logs show 1.4 violent crimes and 12.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of South Carolina the numbers are 5.2 and 27.4. Overall, Port Royal grades B− for safety (#12 of 87 graded towns in South Carolina): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 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 Port Royal
Port Royal reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 South Carolina towns on Port Royal’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Beaufort (D). Burton and Shell Point are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among South Carolina towns, higher
South Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Port Royal’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 86% of the 87 South Carolina towns we grade, against 51% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Port Royal’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Port Royal’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (12.6) 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
Show as a table
| Year | Port Royal | Rest of South Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.6 | 5.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.4 | 5.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.3 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.4 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Port Royal’s police reported 69 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.2 in the rest of South Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Port Royal 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Port Royal property | Rest of South Carolina property | Port Royal violent | Rest of South Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.5 | 31.2 | 2.6 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 12.2 | 30.6 | 1.4 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 12.2 | 27.9 | 1.3 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 13.3 | 23.8 | 1.4 | 4.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
251 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.
24 violent and 227 property, as reported to the FBI by Port Royal’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Port Royal’s roads in 2019–2023
Port Royal had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which five 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 Port Royal’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Port Royal’s own rate (6.4) 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.
Port Royal and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Royal | B− | 1.4 | 12.6 |
| Burton | — | — | — |
| Shell Point | — | — | — |
| Beaufort | D | 4.9 | 30.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Burton and Shell Point are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
South Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Royal | B− | 1.4 | 12.6 |
| Tega Cay | A− | 0.4 | 6.0 |
| Fountain Inn | B− | 2.1 | 10.7 |
| Hardeeville | B− | 1.5 | 14.4 |
| Clemson | C+ | 1.3 | 17.7 |
| West Columbia | D− | 6.5 | 43.1 |
The five graded South Carolina towns closest to Port Royal’s population (16,648), 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 Port Royal. 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 Port Royal’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (17,030 in 2025); our figure for Port Royal is 16,648 (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 Port Royal
Is Port Royal, SC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Port Royal reports less crime per resident than 51% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #12 of 87 in South Carolina. Its police reported 1.4 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 Port Royal?
1.4 violent and 12.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Carolina reports 5.2 and 27.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Port Royal safer than Beaufort?
Beaufort reports more crime per resident than Port Royal: Beaufort grades D for safety and Port Royal B−. Beaufort’s police reported 4.9 violent and 30.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Port Royal?
Port Royal’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Port Royal”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Port Royal.
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.