The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In South Carolina


The most dangerous places in South Carolina are Dillon and Hartsville for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Most dangerous cities in South Carolina research summary. We analyzed the most recent FBI crime data using Saturday Night Science to determine the most dangerous cities in South Carolina.

We examined the violent and property crime per capita statistics for every place with over 5,000 residents. In total, we analyzed 60 South Carolina cities. Here are the results of our analysis:

  • The most dangerous city in South Carolina is Dillon based on the most recent FBI crime data.

  • The violent crime rate in South Carolina is 2,559 per 100k people.

  • The property crime rate in South Carolina is 8,015 per 100k people.

  • The safest city in South Carolina is Bluffton.

  • South Carolina is the 3rd most dangerous state in the United States.

Most Dangerous Cities In South Carolina Map


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Table | Methodology | FAQs | References


As if there isn’t enough to worry about with unruly Ravenels in Charleston and vicious alligators on Hilton Head Island, there are also super dangerous places in South Carolina.

South Carolina is, after all, the 3rd most dangerous state in the country, so no one should be too surprised.

How’d we determine the most dangerous places in the Palmetto State? We consulted the numbers and analyzed 60 South Carolina cities. We looked at the FBI’s latest crime report for violent and property crime statistics for every place with over 5,000 residents.

The South Carolina cities that made our list of dangerous places have robberies and assaults happening at higher rates per capita than average.

The Most Dangerous Cities In South Carolina For 2024

  1. Dillon
  2. Hartsville
  3. Darlington
  4. Orangeburg
  5. Florence
  6. Georgetown
  7. Walterboro
  8. Myrtle Beach
  9. Spartanburg
  10. Lake City

What’s the most dangerous place in South Carolina? The most dangerous place in South Carolina is Dillon.

There are about 260 police officers per 100,000 residents in South Carolina, but they can’t be everywhere. So cities like Myrtle Beach and Greenwood are starting to feel the effects.

For more South Carolina reading, check out:

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In South Carolina For 2024

Dillon, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Gerry Dincher | CC BY-SA 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,213
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 2,559 (Second most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 8,015 (Most dangerous)
Murders: 2
More on Dillon: Data | Cost Of Living

Dillon, a city in the heart of Dillon County, South Carolina, is known for its railway system. However, the city’s skyrocketing crime rates have brought it into the limelight in 2024. Dillon ranks as the most dangerous place in South Carolina.

The city has witnessed an alarming increase in both violent and property crimes. With a total of 159 violent crimes reported, including 2 murders and 146 aggravated assaults, Dillon holds the second highest rank for violent crimes per capita. This surge in criminal activity has led to an overall crime rate of 10,574/100k.

Hartsville, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Jud McCranie | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 7,614
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,746 (Fifth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 6,934 (Fourth most dangerous)
Murders: 1
More on Hartsville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Hartsville held onto its #2 position on our list of South Carolina’s most dangerous places for yet another year. Crime has stayed level in Hartsville, which is bad news when you’ve got the fourth highest property crime rate in the state.

There are about two burglaries a week in Hartsville, which is frequent enough to give the city the sixth highest burglary rate in South Carolina. We recommend padlocking your picnic basket if you’re out at Kalmia Gardens, because ten thefts a week go down in Hartsville.

And while Hartsville didn’t record a single murder in 2022, it still had the fifth highest rate of violent crime in South Carolina.

Darlington, SC

Source: Flickr User Roadgeek Adam | CC BY-SA 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 6,051
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,404 (Seventh most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 6,974 (Third most dangerous)
Murders: 7
More on Darlington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Known for its tobacco farms and NASCAR races, Darlington ranks as South Carolina’s third most dangerous city for 2024. Darlington saw a increase in property crime compared to last year, a big reason the city moved up 3 spots on this list.

Darlington averaged more than one car theft per month over the year, but fortunately, none were race cars from the Darlington Raceway. Good thing, or the carjacker would be mighty hard to catch up with.

Violent crime also ranked as the seventh highest in South Carolina, which includes the 24th highest rate of rape cases statewide. Overall, residents had a 1 in 71 chance of being attacked over 2022.

Orangeburg, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Akhenaton06 at English Wikipedia | CC BY 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 12,307
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,698 (Sixth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 6,134 (Sixth most dangerous)
Murders: 10
More on Orangeburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

On the surface, Orangeburg has a lot going for it. It’s nickname as “The Garden City” shows what locals like to think of their hometown. Meanwhile, the community also provides a home to multiple institutions of higher learning in South Carolina State University and Claflin University.

However, this city in the central part of the state has its less appealing side. That includes a high crime rate. In fact, Orangeburg endures the number 6 highest pace of violent crime in the state. This includes 159 assaults in a population of 12,307.

Florence, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Florence Conventions and Visitors Bureau | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 39,997
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,300 (Eighth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,567 (Ninth most dangerous)
Murders: 21
More on Florence: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The core of the Pee Dee region in northeastern South Carolina, Florence comes in as the fifth least safe place to live. Florence recorded the 18th highest burglary rate statewide, averaging just over one break-in per day.

We just hope they have enough security at the Florence County Museum to stop any would-be heisters.

Violent crime is also all too prevalent in Florence, which experienced 520 such crimes over 2022. It’s also one of the few places listed here that’s seen a rise in both categories of crime.

Georgetown, SC

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 8,323
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,766 (Fourth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,890 (14th most dangerous)
Murders: 1
More on Georgetown: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

As the third oldest city in South Carolina, you’d think Georgetown would have its act together by now. Located on the coast between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, Georgetown does get a lot of visitors passing through.

We just recommend you keep a close eye on your valuables when you’re enjoying the harborwalk, or you might join the 335 people who had their stuff stolen in 2022.

Georgetown isn’t just plagued by high rates of crime. A whole host of other issues landed the city near the top of our list of the worst places to live in South Carolina.

Walterboro, SC

Source: Wikipedia User BeaufortTiger | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 5,432
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 957 (17th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 7,308 (Second most dangerous)
Murders: 1
More on Walterboro: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Walterboro, located in Colleton County, South Carolina, ranks as the seventh most dangerous place to live in the state for 2024. This ranking is based on various crime statistics, including a high number of violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

While it is important to acknowledge the dangerous nature of Walterboro, it is equally crucial to recognize that the situation can improve with concerted efforts and collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the community. By focusing on crime prevention strategies and providing adequate resources to the police force, Walterboro has the potential to become a safer place to reside.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 38,117
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,012 (14th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 6,697 (Fifth most dangerous)
Murders: 6
More on Myrtle Beach: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Ah, Myrtle Beach, a favorite of East Coast vacationers. While Myrtle Beach’s violent crime rate has been steadily decreasing, its property crime rates remain the fifth highest in South Carolina.

Folks in Myrtle Beach had a 1 in 14 chance of having their stuff stolen or damaged over 2022, making Broadway at the Beach one of the few places where it’s not a bad idea to wear a wallet chain.

In fact, with the prevalence of property crime, Myrtle Beach has the sixth highest overall crime rate in South Carolina, outstripping the national average by a whopping 365%.

Spartanburg, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Billy Hathorn | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 38,271
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,194 (11th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,871 (Eighth most dangerous)
Murders: 2
More on Spartanburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

This. Is. Spartansburg! Located in “The Upstate” of South Carolina’s northwest, this city of 38,271 isn’t quite as hardcore as the Sparta of yore, but it’s still the ninth most dangerous place to live in South Carolina for 2024.

The city does a good job of preserving nature at the Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve, but we’re pretty sure residents would like local leaders to preserve the safety of the human population as well.

More than one burglary a day goes down in Spartansburg on average, which gives the city the fourth highest burglary rate in South Carolina. And with 457 violent crimes recorded in data year 2022, no one will blame you for keeping your guard up in Spartansburg.

Lake City, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Evanoco | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,946
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 2,068 (Third most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,750 (22nd most dangerous)
Murders: 2
More on Lake City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Good news, bad news situation with Lake City, South Carolina’s tenth most dangerous place to call home in 2024. On the plus side, Lake City’s property crime rate is the lowest on this list. So you don’t have to worry much about someone picking your pocket while you’re gawking at Lake City’s all the murals and public art.

The bad news? Lake City residents had a 1 in 48 shot of being the victim of a violent attack in 2022. That represents a jump from last year — yikes. Most of the violent crimes were just aggravated assaults, but we’re pretty sure that won’t make the victims feel any better about it.

Crime By City In South Carolina

Rank City Population Total Crimes Per 100K Violent Crimes Per 100K Property Crimes Per 100K Murders
1 Dillon 6,213 10,574 2,559 8,015 2
2 Hartsville 7,614 8,681 1,746 6,934 1
3 Darlington 6,051 8,378 1,404 6,974 7
4 Orangeburg 12,307 7,832 1,698 6,134 10
5 Florence 39,997 6,868 1,300 5,567 21
6 Georgetown 8,323 6,656 1,766 4,890 1
7 Walterboro 5,432 8,265 957 7,308 1
8 Myrtle Beach 38,117 7,710 1,012 6,697 6
9 Spartanburg 38,271 7,065 1,194 5,871 2
10 Lake City 5,946 5,819 2,068 3,750 2
11 Union 7,977 6,493 1,090 5,403 0
12 Camden 8,044 5,992 1,093 4,898 1
13 Marion 6,232 6,418 1,010 5,407 5
14 Clinton 7,663 5,154 1,200 3,954 0
15 West Columbia 17,581 6,256 733 5,523 2
16 North Charleston 119,198 5,747 942 4,805 33
17 Chester 5,222 5,515 2,566 2,949 2
18 Cayce 13,710 5,010 1,006 4,004 3
19 Anderson 29,398 6,493 615 5,877 2
20 Greenwood 22,145 4,876 821 4,055 58
21 Bennettsville 6,891 4,484 1,277 3,207 2
22 York 8,699 4,621 689 3,931 1
23 Batesburg-Leesville 5,249 4,343 723 3,619 0
24 Sumter 42,613 4,102 882 3,219 6
25 North Myrtle Beach 19,888 4,791 447 4,344 2
26 Greenville 73,311 4,219 541 3,677 4
27 Gaffney 12,291 4,580 357 4,222 1
28 Laurens 9,307 3,685 623 3,062 0
29 Aiken 31,985 4,073 594 3,479 2
30 Irmo 11,937 3,778 460 3,317 1
31 Conway 23,664 3,401 684 2,717 5
32 Newberry 10,507 3,416 647 2,769 5
33 Moncks Corner 13,906 3,437 618 2,818 1
34 Columbia 137,768 3,454 598 2,855 13
35 Forest Acres 10,514 3,956 332 3,623 1
36 Simpsonville 25,847 3,984 313 3,671 0
37 Seneca 8,964 2,800 658 2,141 0
38 Rock Hill 74,047 3,158 479 2,679 8
39 Beaufort 13,003 3,376 330 3,045 0
40 Summerville 51,423 3,045 365 2,679 2
41 Easley 23,786 3,022 357 2,665 1
42 Fountain Inn 11,523 2,239 451 1,787 1
43 Charleston 152,324 2,264 374 1,889 8
44 Hanahan 22,320 1,841 394 1,447 0
45 Hardeeville 9,995 2,771 240 2,531 0
46 Mauldin 26,576 2,167 293 1,873 1
47 Greer 42,196 2,267 253 2,014 0
48 Goose Creek 46,665 2,067 278 1,789 2
49 Travelers Rest 7,836 2,807 12 2,794 0
50 North Augusta 24,957 2,452 168 2,283 4

Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous cities in South Carolina for 2024?

Every year the FBI release two crime datasets on cities in South Carolina. First a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in South Carolina, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.

For our analysis, we focused on the 2022 data, specifically the 2022 Crime In The United States Report for South Carolina.

So what criteria did we use? Have a look:

  • Violent Crimes Per Capita
  • Property Crimes Per Capita

In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered South Carolina cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 60 cities in South Carolina.

We then ranked each city from 1 to 60 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.

Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Dangerous Index”.

Finally, we ranked every city on the “Dangerous Index” with the lowest index being the most dangerous in South Carolina — Dillon. Any ties went to the smaller city.

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our tenth time ranking the most dangerous places to live in South Carolina and is updated for 2024.

Most Dangerous Places To Live In South Carolina FAQs

Yes, South Carolina is a dangerous state as it ranks as the #3 most dangerous state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in South Carolina ranks seventh most dangerous in the United States — 43.5% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Palmetto State ranks fifth most dangerous in the United States — 39.23% worse than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2022.

No, Charleston is not a dangerous city. Charleston ranks as the #98 safest out of 328 major cities over 100,000 people in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. Keep in mind that are always safe and dangerous parts of any city, so even though Charleston might be considered safe you still need to be aware of where you are.

Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Charleston ranks 202nd highest in America — 32.28% better than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks 229th highest in the United States — 30.76% better than US average property crime rate. Note the latest reporting year from the FBI was 2022 and that no city in America is ‘dangerous’. Despite the uptick in murders, it’s nothing like you’d see in Tijuana or Caracas where the murder rate is 2x any American city.

Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In South Carolina

Most Dangerous Cities In South Carolina Graph

Click To Enlarge

Summary: Locking It All Up In South Carolina

So what is the most dangerous city in South Carolina? After analyzing 60 cities in South Carolina, Dillon takes the top spot as the most dangerous city in South Carolina based on the most recently reported FBI data — 2022.

The latest FBI crime data shows that Dillon ranks as the most dangerous city in South Carolina for 2024.

The most dangerous cities in South Carolina are .

We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Dillon and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up.

What’s the most dangerous place in South Carolina? The most dangerous place in South Carolina is Dillon.

There are about 260 police officers per 100,000 residents in South Carolina, but they can’t be everywhere. So cities like Myrtle Beach and Greenwood are starting to feel the effects.

Learn more about the safest places in South Carolina.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.

Here are the safest cities in South Carolina:

  1. Clemson (Pop. 18,174)
  2. Lexington (Pop. 24,880)
  3. Port Royal (Pop. 13,430)
  4. Lyman (Pop. 6,437)
  5. Mount Pleasant (Pop. 93,951)
  6. Central (Pop. 5,335)
  7. Clover (Pop. 7,153)
  8. Tega Cay (Pop. 13,607)
  9. Fort Mill (Pop. 31,023)
  10. Bluffton (Pop. 36,064)

For more South Carolina reading, check out:

References

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

4 thoughts on “The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In South Carolina

  1. Why in the world did you post a picture of a CHURCH in Dillon, SC??? I am appalled at this choice in an article about crime!

  2. This article is total bull! Walterboro, my home, at #7 and North Charleston isn’t on the list. You are only hurting small town economies when you post articles like this.

    I talked to a contractor today that was scared to bring his crew here because of this weak article. This needs to be taken down!! Totally inaccurate and damaging. These small towns should step up against this page of any other outlet that posts this article. Take it down!

  3. I live in Kershaw County, with Camden as the county seat. I’ve been here 15 years and I never had any trouble, and I rarely hear about much trouble. Now there have been a few murders in this time, but they happened near the county line, in a patch called Elgin. That is next to Columbia.

    The most I’ve seen and heard about was maybe someone fighting, speeding, caught with a bag, but who hasn’t had that around?

    There isn’t much to do here in Camden and people don’t tend to come to an area like Camden to rob or kill when they can do it much closer to home in Columbia and Sumter. I didn’t see Sumter on this list. That’s the town that should be on this list and not Camden.

    Sumter has a lot of drug crime, robberies, and murders too. I’m glad I live outside of Camden in Cassatt, and not in or near Sumter. I’m glad my Doctors and business takes me to Camden. It’s really a nice little town. Camden is also America’s Oldest Inland City.

    St.Augustine, Florida is America’s Oldest City ,and Camden, South Carolina is America’s Oldest Inland City. They have a Revolutionary War Museum with programs during the year. Cornwallis’s house is in Camden. The huge old mansion from the 1700 & 1800’s are beautiful.

    Come for a visit and hey, my place is on the market here in Cassatt if you visit and decide you want to stay.

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