Charleston, SC crime rate
In 2025 the Charleston Police Department reported 280.5 violent crimes and 1,613.3 property crimes per 100,000 residents it covers. The FBI's estimates for South Carolina and the US for the same year are beside each number.
Data as of 2025 (FBI), checked October 30, 2026. How we got these numbers
Data notes.
- Arson, 2022: unusual change, check the source. 2021: 19, 2022: 8, 2023: 17 (under 60% of both neighbouring years). Changes to and from 2022 are not shown.
How does Charleston compare with South Carolina and the US?
Arson has no FBI state or US estimate, so its row shows Charleston only.
What offenses were reported in Charleston, 2025?
| Offense | Reported | Per 100k | South Carolina | US | vs 2024 | vs 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | ||||||
| Violent crime | 447 | 280.5 | 387.6 | 327.6 | down 21.8% | down 36.1% |
| Murder | 10 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 4.1 | up 40.0% | down 47.5% |
| Rape | 33 | 20.7 | 33.3 | 36.1 | down 26.1% | down 61.4% |
| Robbery | 63 | 39.5 | 28.3 | 49.4 | down 8.8% | down 37.1% |
| Aggravated assault | 341 | 214.0 | 319.7 | 238.0 | down 24.4% | down 31.1% |
| Property crime | ||||||
| Property crime | 2,571 | 1,613.3 | 1,676.2 | 1,534.8 | down 20.7% | down 28.5% |
| Burglary | 172 | 107.9 | 239.0 | 193.6 | down 22.7% | down 40.5% |
| Larceny-theft | 2,161 | 1,356.0 | 1,275.0 | 1,144.1 | down 18.2% | down 21.5% |
| Motor vehicle theft | 228 | 143.1 | 162.2 | 197.0 | down 36.9% | down 56.9% |
| Arson | 10 | 6.3 | Not estimated | Not estimated | down 38.2% | down 53.0% |
Reported = offenses known to the Charleston Police Department and sent to the FBI. South Carolina and US are FBI estimates for the same year. Changes compare rates of full years only.
Violent crime rate, 2021 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston | United States | South Carolina |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 438.7 | 387.0 | 513.8 |
| 2022 | 374.9 | 388.7 | 499.0 |
| 2023 | 405.4 | 379.5 | 477.1 |
| 2024 | 358.8 | 362.9 | 440.3 |
| 2025 | 280.5 | 327.6 | 387.6 |
Property crime rate, 2021 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston | United States | South Carolina |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,255.1 | 1,832.3 | 2,493.8 |
| 2022 | 1,897.3 | 1,973.8 | 2,331.6 |
| 2023 | 1,992.1 | 1,934.1 | 2,224.4 |
| 2024 | 2,035.1 | 1,761.1 | 1,981.0 |
| 2025 | 1,613.3 | 1,534.8 | 1,676.2 |
Is Charleston safe?
We don't rate cities as safe or unsafe. What the FBI's numbers show: in 2025 the violent crime rate the Charleston Police Department reported, 280.5 per 100,000 residents, was lower than South Carolina's 387.6, and lower than the US rate of 327.6 (FBI estimates). It fell 21.8% from 2024.
What these numbers can't tell you:
- How crime differs between neighborhoods (the FBI publishes agency totals only).
- Crimes nobody reported to the police.
- How many offenses involved visitors and commuters, who are not in the population count.
At 280.5 per 100,000 residents covered by the Charleston Police Department, the city's 2025 violent crime rate was below both the FBI's South Carolina estimate of 387.6 and the US rate of 327.6. That year 447 violent crimes and 2,571 property crimes were reported to the FBI by the department. Property crime came to 1,613.3 per 100,000, lower than the state's 1,676.2, and higher than the national 1,534.8.
Both rates fell between 2021 and 2025, violent crime by 36.1% and property crime by 28.5%. The South Carolina violent estimate moved from 513.8 to 387.6 in the same years. Rape fell the most of the violent offenses since 2021, 61.4%, to 20.7 per 100,000.
Of the property offenses, motor vehicle theft fell the most from 2021 to 2025, 56.9%. There were 10 homicides in 2025, a rate of 6.3 per 100,000, down 47.5% from 2021. Aggravated assault was 76% of violent crime, and larceny-theft 84% of property crime.
The 2022 arson count is flagged as an unusual change and is not compared. All 12 months were reported for each of the 5 years shown, and NIBRS reporting dates from 1991. The Berkeley County and Charleston County sheriff's offices, College of Charleston police and the State Transport Police in Charleston County report separately.
Written from the numbers on this page. Every figure and every comparison is checked against the stored FBI data before publishing.
Police employees, 2025: 3.28 per 1,000 residents (419 officers, 104 civilians), FBI Crime Data Explorer. Shown as context, not as a measure of crime.
Other South Carolina cities
The nearest South Carolina cities with a page, in alphabetical order. VC = violent crime per 100,000, 2025.
Sources
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, Charleston Police Department (ORI SC0100100), offenses known to law enforcement and police employees, 2021 to 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026. Crime Data Explorer
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, South Carolina and United States estimated crime (Summary Reporting System estimates), 2021 to 2025.
- FBI, "UCR Statistics: Their Proper Use" (why we don't rank cities).
Every stored file behind this page (11)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): violent crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_violent_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): murder, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_homicide__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): rape, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_rape__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): robbery, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_robbery__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): aggravated assault, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_aggravated_assault__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): property crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_property_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): burglary, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_burglary__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): larceny-theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_larceny__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): motor vehicle theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_motor_vehicle_theft__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): arson, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0100100_arson__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Charleston Police Department (SC0100100): police employees, 2021 to 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/pe_agency_SC0100100__from-2021-to-2025.json)