Photo: Daniel G Rego · CC BY-SA 4.0Charleston has more crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Violent crime here is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 94%. What’s more, it grades D for safety on crimes Charleston’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #25 of 29 graded towns in West Virginia. The local count comes to 5.7 violent crimes and 34.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 3.8 and 23.2 in the rest of West Virginia. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 8% from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of WV” is every other West Virginia 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 Charleston
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 West Virginia towns on Charleston’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Dunbar (C−), South Charleston (D−). Neighbors ↓
A job center
Charleston has 54,071 jobs based in town for 46,117 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
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 Charleston’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 Charleston 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 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston | Rest of West Virginia | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.4 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.1 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.4 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 5.5 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Charleston’s police reported 785 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.8 in the rest of West Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston property | Rest of West Virginia property | Charleston violent | Rest of West Virginia violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 41.0 | 26.1 | 6.4 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 37.8 | 24.0 | 6.1 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 31.2 | 23.5 | 5.4 | 3.7 |
| 2025 | 34.8 | 21.9 | 5.5 | 3.3 |
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 West Virginia.
1,853 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.
252 violent and 1,601 property, as reported to the FBI by Charleston’s police.
24 people died in crashes on Charleston’s roads in 2019–2023
Charleston had 23 fatal crashes in five years, in which 24 people died; 7 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 10.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for West Virginia towns of 25,000–100,000 people (9.6, 5 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.
Charleston and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | D | 5.7 | 34.6 |
| South Charleston | D− | 5.0 | 51.8 |
| Dunbar | C− | 3.8 | 18.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
West Virginia towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | D | 5.7 | 34.6 |
| Morgantown | C | 2.6 | 19.5 |
| Parkersburg | C− | 2.7 | 30.3 |
| Wheeling | D | 9.3 | 18.8 |
| Huntington | D | 7.5 | 34.1 |
The five graded West Virginia towns closest to Charleston’s population (46,117), 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 Charleston. 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 Charleston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (45,958 in 2025); our figure for Charleston is 46,117 (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 Charleston
Is Charleston, WV safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Charleston reports more crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #25 of 29 in West Virginia. Its police reported 5.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.8 in the rest of West Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Charleston?
5.7 violent and 34.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of West Virginia reports 3.8 and 23.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Charleston in 2025?
Charleston’s police reported 3 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 6.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Charleston safer than South Charleston?
South Charleston reports more crime per resident than Charleston: South Charleston grades D− for safety and Charleston D. South Charleston’s police reported 5.0 violent and 51.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Charleston?
Charleston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Charleston”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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 Charleston.
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.