Who reports crime for Southern Shops
A 10-mile radius takes in 4 places that are graded. Southern Shops has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Spartanburg County. The Spartanburg 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 Southern Shops alone, and no Safety Grade. The closest graded town is Wellford, 7 miles away, at B+.
What stands out about safety in Southern Shops
Policed by the county
Southern Shops is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Southern Shops. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest South Carolina towns with their own police figures are Wellford (B+, 7 mi), Inman (C, 7 mi), Lyman (B, 8 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Southern Shops. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Spartanburg County without police of their own, which include Southern Shops.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2024 offenses reported by the Spartanburg 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
Straight-line distance from the center of Southern Shops. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Southern Shops.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Seven people died in crashes on Southern Shops’s roads in 2019–2023
Southern Shops had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 1 was a pedestrian. Most of these deaths (5 of 7) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is more than 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 Southern Shops’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Southern Shops’s own rate (36.9) 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.
Southern Shops and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Falls | — | — | — |
| Arcadia | — | — | — |
| Saxon | — | — | — |
| Hilltop | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Valley Falls, Arcadia, Saxon and Hilltop are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
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 Southern Shops
Is Southern Shops, SC safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Southern Shops. The nearest South Carolina towns with a grade are Wellford (B+, 7 mi), Inman (C, 7 mi), Lyman (B, 8 mi).
Who polices Southern Shops?
The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. Southern Shops is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Spartanburg 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 Southern Shops.
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.