Ten Safest Cities in South Carolina

Affordability ranks as the top concern for today’s home buyers, but what if you removed that from the equation? What else are home buyers looking at when purchasing a home? Local crime rates ranked as a leading factor. Americans want to live where they feel comfortable letting their children play outside, or their cars won’t be vandalized when parked outside.   

Knowing how much safety and crime matter to our home buyers, we wondered where the safest cities were in South Carolina.  

SafeWise’s methodology examines violent crime and property crime rates as voluntarily reported to the FBI crime database. Not all cities may be listed or reporting their data. These crime rates are only part of what makes a place safe to live, so we checked in with a few other sources. The top cities appeared across multiple evaluation systems. 

South Carolina’s Overall Safety Picture

The drawback: the Palmetto State’s crime rate trended above the national average. However, not all states met SafeWise’s reporting requirements. Looking at other evaluators, South Carolina consistently ranks near the bottom for public safety. US News and World Report has it at no. 46 for 2023.

Based on crimes per 1,000 persons, South Carolina had a 5.2 violent crime rate and a 25.9 property crime rate. The good news is the state’s violent crime rate has been declining year-over-year, meaning the state is reporting less aggravated assaults, arson, and robberies were below the national average. Property crimes, which include motor vehicle theft and package theft, also declined for 2023. 

The safest cities in South Carolina tended to be clustered in particular regions: the Charleston metro, on the South Carolina side of the Charlotte metro, and near top cities on the coastline. 

City rankings

South Carolina had 48 cities that met the criteria for ranking in the SafeWise methodology and other sources. Keep in mind not all counties or cities may report their crime statistics to the national bureaus that track this data. Additionally, changes in the rate of crime can be skewed when fewer people are living in an area. Tourist destinations may also have their crime statistics skewed, as they have higher reports of nonviolent crimes like pick-pocketing and theft from part-time residents and visitors that may not count when creating crime statistics.

Fort Mill

Moving up three spots to claim the title of “Safest City in South Carolina,” Fort Mill had the state’s lowest property crime rate. This York County town had less than 200 incidents last year. Crimes in both property and violence categories have declined since 2021. Niche.com also ranked Fort Mill the state’s second-safest city. 

Around 26,000 residents live in this small town just off I-77 and south of the North Carolina border. Fort Mill falls in the greater Charlotte metro region, one of the larger cities in the South. Despite being close to this large metro, it maintains a close-knit sense of community. The downtown has a classic Main Street with American flag-draped storefronts lining the two-lane road. Niche.com ranked it as having the state’s best school district in 2023 for the second year running. 

Bluffton

This Lowcountry southern town had 0.8 reported violent crimes and 7.3 property crimes per 1,000 people in 2023. 

With around 30,000 residents, Bluffton is one of the state’s fastest-growing regions. It keeps adding to its accolades, like one of America’s happiest seaside towns and a state-ranked top high school. Now, it can add a low crime rate to why it’s a great place to live. Found in Beaufort County, Bluffton residents live near the waterfront with classic historic estates and majestic live oak trees dotting the landscape.  

Mount Pleasant

The highest-ranking dense metro city, Mount Pleasant, is a popular suburb across the harbor from Charleston. Violent crime rates have been at one per 1,000 persons for three years running. Its property crime rate was 11.2 per 1,000 in 2023. It rose two spots to be the state’s third-safest city. 

Mount Pleasant had about 100,000 residents, making it a larger entry on this list. In a testament to its desirability, Mount Pleasant earned a 91% Livability metric from WalletHub, placing it in the top 9% of cities nationwide. People are moving here because of its top-ranked school system, long list of recreational activities, and better cost of living than Charleston.  

Tega Cay

Tega Cay rose four spots into fourth position, but it was no. 1 on Niche.com’s safety rating scale. Nearby to top-ranked Fort Mill, Tega Cay‘s violent crime levels rose slightly from 0.4 to 0.6, but its property crime rates dropped from 19 to 14.5. 

One of the state’s more affluent areas, around 12,000 people live in this waterfront town. It’s considered part of the Charlotte metro with waterfront access to Lake Wylie. Tega Cay often appears as the best place to live in South Carolina. The low crime rates were cited as a top factor, as was its affordability and quality of life. Residents have high median incomes, likely because they can commute to Charlotte to work for top companies.  

Hanahan

This Charleston suburb is highly residential. While its violent crime and property crime rates have risen slightly, it’s still low enough to bump it up two spots on SafeWise’s list.  

Over 26,000 people call Hanahan home. Its borders include parts of the Naval Weapons Station Charleston, so large sections are still more rural in their feel. Thanks to I-26, residents can easily commute into North Charleston and Charleston proper. 

Port Royal

A declining property crime rate helped seaside Port Royal rise four spots to the sixth safest city in South Carolina. The violent crime rate has been rather stable over the last three years, averaging 2.9 per 1,000 persons.

This Lowcountry town outside Beaufort has been overlooked for its classically Southern neighbors, but perhaps not for much longer. In 2023, it was called out as one of the top “under-rated towns” in the US–ones with many perks but not a lot of press. That could be changing for Port Royal. A marina is under development, as is new housing. Port Royal is beside the Marine Corps Parris Island Recruit Depot.  

Maudlin

Another big riser, Maudlin, had declining property and violent crime rates in 2023. This small town of 26,000 residents falls into the greater Greenville metro in the Upstate region. Besides its safety marks, Maudlin has earned accolades as being a great city for retirement and for raising a family. The local schools had a high graduation rate. Some consider Maudlin a “commuter” town as there aren’t a lot of entertainment attractions. 

Goose Creek

This Charleston suburb made its safe cities list debut right at no. 8. It had a violent crime rate of 2.8 per 1,000 persons and a property crime rate of 17. 1 per 1,000 persons.

Oddly, it’s taken this top-ranked town so long to appear on this list. Money Magazine said Goose Creek was the best place to live in America back in 2020, and it’s earned plenty of other media accolades. The reasons why its quality of life is so great? A strong economy backed by big names like Google and Volvo, affordable homes, and small-town charm. Although, it has 45,000 residents and counting, it may not be classified as a small town for much longer. 

Clemson

Over on the state’s west side, college town Clemson had an average property crime rate of 21 per 1,000 persons but a low violent crime rate. Another town in the top ten places to live in South Carolina, Clemson had around 48,000 residents but brought in more during the college semester. Its namesake, Clemson University, is a nationally top-ranked public university. Besides higher education, Clemson is a short drive from beautiful Lake Hartwell, a top vacation destination on the South Carolina-Georgia border.  

Summerville

Rounding out the top ten safest cities in South Carolina is another Charleston suburb. Summerville’s safety score significantly increased thanks to big drops in property crime and violent crime rates from 2022 to 2023. Over 54,000 people live in Summerville, which is highly regarded for its schools. Commuters jump on I-26 to reach North Charleston and downtown. 

Safe Places to Live in South Carolina

The rate of property crime and other offenses varies widely, but these are among the lowest in South Carolina. Another 38 cities submitted a complete crime report, so chances are a town is a safe place to live in South Carolina. If you have any crime concerns, a local real estate agent can point you to where to find information on violent and nonviolent crimes in an area.

Updated July 2024