Crime Rate in Charleston, SC (2025)

Charleston has a Crime Index of 74 out of 100 (grade C — moderate risk) for 2025, based on FBI-reported violent and property crime rates relative to other US cities. That ranks it #2 of 7 cities in South Carolina by reported crime. Reported crime is not the same as actual crime. Research on the gap between crime that occurs and crime that gets reported to police — often called the "dark figure" of crime — estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime go unreported each year. Every index built on official statistics, including this one, necessarily undercounts real crime. That gap is exactly why homicide — the offense with the smallest dark figure — anchors the calculation instead of a more commonly reported but less reliable category like theft.

A "Moderate risk" grade means Charleston's severity-weighted crime rate falls in the 60–74 range on the Crime Index, out of a national distribution of every city we track for 2025. Grades are calibrated against the national distribution of every area we track for the same data year — they describe an area's relative standing, not an absolute promise. A "Very safe" grade means an area sits among the lowest-crime places in the country with usable data, not that nothing ever happens there.

The most frequently reported offense in Charleston for 2025 was larceny-theft, with 2,159 reported incidents. See the full breakdown by offense above for how violent and property crime compare to the US average.

Reported crime in Charleston is down 30% since 2021, so the trend is improving. Year-to-year figures can shift with FBI reporting changes, not just real crime.

Based on 2025 reported rates, Charleston residents face roughly a 1 in 357 annual chance of a violent crime and about 1 in 62 for a property crime, calculated city-wide. Your individual risk varies widely by neighborhood, time of day, and circumstances.

Charleston is safer than 54% of the 759 US cities we track for 2025, ranked by Crime Index. Its violent-crime rate is -25% vs the South Carolina average and its property-crime rate is in line with the South Carolina average.

No. National research on the dark figure of crime estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime are never reported to police, so any index built on official statistics — including this one — measures a floor on real crime, not a ceiling. That's part of why the index leans most heavily on homicide, the category with the smallest reporting gap.