FBI crime data highlights top 10 crimes in SC, safest and most dangerous cities
While FBI data shows violent crime in South Carolina went down by 8.5% from 2024 to 2025, the state still has the 12th highest rate in the nation.
In 2025, 436.7 violent crimes were committed for every 100,000 citizens, 22% above the national average. Property crime sat at 1965.8 crimes per 100,000 citizens, 11.67% above that national rate, according to the report.
The most current available annual data from the Bureau of Justice and Statistics LEARCAT tool, which allows users to search through and filter crime data from across the country, showed the top 10 most common crimes within South Carolina and where those crimes ranked nationally in 2024:
No. 1: Simple assault
- Where this crime ranked nationally: One
- Instances in South Carolina: 48,563
No. 2: Drug or narcotic violations
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Five
- Instances in South Carolina: 38,667
No. 3: All other larceny
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Three
- Instances in South Carolina: 31,920
No. 4: Destruction, damage or vandalism of property
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Two
- Instances in South Carolina: 30,751
No. 5: Shoplifting
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Four
- Instances in South Carolina: 22,943
No. 6: Theft from a motor vehicle
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Six
- Instances in South Carolina: 18,682
No. 7: Burglary and breaking and entering
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Nine
- Instances in South Carolina: 15,075
No. 8: Aggravated assault
- Where this crime ranked nationally: 10
- Instances in South Carolina: 14,500
No. 9 Motor vehicle theft
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Seven
- Instances in South Carolina: 11,496
No. 10: Intimidation
- Where this crime ranked nationally: Eight
- Instances in South Carolina: 10,718
Simple assault was the most common crime in 28 states, followed by destruction, damage, or vandalism of property in 10, drug or narcotic violations in six, all other larceny in five and intimidation and shoplifting in one each.
OpenCrime, an open data project that puts together its reports with data pulled from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program, made lists of the five safest and five most dangerous South Carolina cities in terms of violent crime.
Safest cities
No. 1: Tega Cay
- Violent crime rate: 27.7/100,000
No. 2: North Augusta
- Violent crime rate: 34.1/100,000
No. 3: Fort Mill
- Violent crime rate: 45.9/100,000
No. 4: Fountain Inn
- Violent crime rate: 78.6/100,000
No. 5: Lexington
- Violent crime rate: 118.3/100,000
Most dangerous cities
No. 1: Spartanburg
- Violent crime rate: 1480.1/100,000
No. 2: Orangeburg
- Violent crime rate: 1246.2/100,000
No. 3: Myrtle Beach
- Violent crime rate: 1111.6/100,000
No. 4: Sumter
- Violent crime rate: 1097.5/100,000
No. 5: North Charleston
- Violent crime rate: 810.5/100,000