Columbia, SC crime rate
In 2025 the Columbia Police Department reported 791.0 violent crimes and 3,156.7 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
How does Columbia compare with South Carolina and the US?
Arson has no FBI state or US estimate, so its row shows Columbia only.
What offenses were reported in Columbia, 2025?
| Offense | Reported | Per 100k | South Carolina | US | vs 2024 | vs 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | ||||||
| Violent crime | 1,163 | 791.0 | 387.6 | 327.6 | up 2.7% | up 8.7% |
| Murder | 21 | 14.3 | 6.4 | 4.1 | up 47.4% | down 5.3% |
| Rape | 78 | 53.1 | 33.3 | 36.1 | down 13.8% | down 19.3% |
| Robbery | 101 | 68.7 | 28.3 | 49.4 | down 35.9% | down 48.4% |
| Aggravated assault | 963 | 655.0 | 319.7 | 238.0 | up 10.7% | up 27.6% |
| Property crime | ||||||
| Property crime | 4,641 | 3,156.7 | 1,676.2 | 1,534.8 | down 3.3% | down 24.8% |
| Burglary | 598 | 406.7 | 239.0 | 193.6 | down 18.1% | down 27.2% |
| Larceny-theft | 3,541 | 2,408.5 | 1,275.0 | 1,144.1 | up 1.6% | down 24.6% |
| Motor vehicle theft | 484 | 329.2 | 162.2 | 197.0 | down 13.2% | down 24.9% |
| Arson | 18 | 12.2 | Not estimated | Not estimated | down 37.1% | up 79.4% |
Reported = offenses known to the Columbia 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 | Columbia | United States | South Carolina |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 727.4 | 387.0 | 513.8 |
| 2022 | 599.6 | 388.7 | 499.0 |
| 2023 | 767.5 | 379.5 | 477.1 |
| 2024 | 769.9 | 362.9 | 440.3 |
| 2025 | 791.0 | 327.6 | 387.6 |
Property crime rate, 2021 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia | United States | South Carolina |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4,197.2 | 1,832.3 | 2,493.8 |
| 2022 | 2,868.6 | 1,973.8 | 2,331.6 |
| 2023 | 3,501.8 | 1,934.1 | 2,224.4 |
| 2024 | 3,265.1 | 1,761.1 | 1,981.0 |
| 2025 | 3,156.7 | 1,534.8 | 1,676.2 |
Is Columbia safe?
We don't rate cities as safe or unsafe. What the FBI's numbers show: in 2025 the violent crime rate the Columbia Police Department reported, 791.0 per 100,000 residents, was higher than South Carolina's 387.6, and higher than the US rate of 327.6 (FBI estimates). It rose 2.7% 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.
Columbia had 1,163 violent crimes reported to the FBI by its police in 2025. The rate, 791.0 per 100,000 residents covered by the Columbia Police Department, was 2.0 times South Carolina's estimate of 387.6 and 2.4 times the US figure of 327.6. Violent crime has risen, 2.7% from 2024 and 8.7% from 2021, when the rate was 727.4.
The South Carolina estimate moved from 513.8 in 2021 to 387.6 in 2025. Aggravated assault rose the most of the violent offenses from 2021, 27.6%, to 655.0 per 100,000, and made up 83% of violent crime. Robbery fell the most, 48.4% since 2021 and 35.9% in the last year.
Murder rose 47.4% from 2024 to 2025, to 21 homicides and 14.3 per 100,000. Property crime went the other way, falling 24.8% since 2021 to 3,156.7 per 100,000, which is 2.1 times the US rate. Burglary had the largest fall of the property offenses from 2021 to 2025, 27.2%.
Larceny-theft was 76% of property crime. The department has used NIBRS since 1991 and sent all 12 months for each of the 5 years shown. The Lexington County and Richland County sheriff's offices, Columbia College and Columbia Metropolitan Airport police report separately, so their cases are not in these figures.
Written from the numbers on this page. Every figure and every comparison is checked against the stored FBI data before publishing.
Police employees, 2025: 2.64 per 1,000 residents (268 officers, 120 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, Columbia Police Department (ORI SC0400100), 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)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): violent crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_violent_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): murder, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_homicide__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): rape, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_rape__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): robbery, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_robbery__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): aggravated assault, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_aggravated_assault__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): property crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_property_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): burglary, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_burglary__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): larceny-theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_larceny__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): motor vehicle theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_motor_vehicle_theft__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): arson, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_SC0400100_arson__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Columbia Police Department (SC0400100): police employees, 2021 to 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/pe_agency_SC0400100__from-2021-to-2025.json)