Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Charleston, SC Crime Grade
How Charleston grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of South Carolina — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
7/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
South Carolina
5/10
vs. South Carolina cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Charleston, SC was 279.9 per 100,000 residents (446 incidents over a population of 159,360). That puts Charleston Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 14% below the South Carolina statewide rate of 325.3.
That ranks Charleston #2,537 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 33% of them, and #21 of 41 in South Carolina. Violent crime is down 22% year over year and down 36% over the last five years.
Charleston, SC crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- C (7/10)
- South Carolina Grade
- B (5/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 279.9 / 100k
- National rank
- #2,537 of 3,771
- SC rank
- #21 of 41
- Safer than
- 33% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 22%
- 5-year change
- down 36%
- Population
- 159,360
- Reporting agency
- Charleston Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Charleston Police Department (FBI ORI SC0100100) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Charleston, SC
Also known as
- Charles Town
- Charlestowne
- Charles Towne
- Charlstoun
- Charlstown
Name history sourced from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — public-domain federal geographic-names data.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Charleston (red), South Carolina (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Charleston vs. U.S., 2025 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 438.7(622) | 374.9(571) | 405.4(629) | 358.8(563) | 279.9(446) |
| Murder | 12.0(17) | 5.3(8) | 5.8(9) | 4.5(7) | 6.3(10) |
| Rape | 53.6(76) | 34.8(53) | 30.9(48) | 28.0(44) | 20.1(32) |
| Robbery | 62.8(89) | 47.9(73) | 52.8(82) | 43.3(68) | 39.5(63) |
| Aggravated assault | 310.4(440) | 286.9(437) | 315.8(490) | 283.0(444) | 214.0(341) |
| Property crime | 2255.1(3,197) | 1897.3(2,890) | 1992.1(3,091) | 2035.1(3,193) | 1609.6(2,565) |
| Burglary | 181.3(257) | 150.3(229) | 165.0(256) | 139.6(219) | 107.9(172) |
| Larceny | 1728.2(2,450) | 1411.5(2,150) | 1504.3(2,334) | 1658.4(2,602) | 1352.3(2,155) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 332.2(471) | 330.2(503) | 311.9(484) | 226.9(356) | 143.1(228) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Charleston, SC Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Charleston Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Charleston calculated?
- Charleston's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the South Carolina state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to South Carolina cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Charleston Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in South Carolina
Comparable South Carolina cities by population.
Compare Charleston to other places
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