5 cities in SC are among most unsafe in US, new report shows. Here’s where, how unsafe
Do you feel safe where you live? If you live in a mid-sized city in South Carolina, you might not.
SmartAsset, a financial technology company, analyzed 333 cities across the country, with populations between 65,000 and 250,000, to determine which areas were the nation’s safest in a recent study.
They considered every city’s violent crimes, property crimes, traffic fatality rates and natural disaster risks, and ranked every city from safest to most unsafe.
The results showed that many coastal cities are inherently unsafe, due to the natural risk of flooding, storms and other weather disasters. As a result, 14 of the 20 safest midsize cities are in non-coastal states.
That might explain why several South Carolina cities ranked so close to the bottom. In fact, the five SC cities that were analyzed had fairly grim safety scores.
Here are the areas in SC that made the list and what makes them so unsafe:
5 SC mid-sized cities from safest to most unsafe
None of SC’s mid-sized cities that were analyzed in this study made the top half of the ranking. Most of them ranked close to the bottom, right by Little Rock, Arkansas, and Birmingham, Alabama.
Each city received a score based on data on violent crime, property crimes, auto fatalities and natural disaster risk. SmartAsset used county-level indicators for auto fatalities and disaster risk.
Here are the SC cities and their safety ratings, ranked from safest to most unsafe in the state:
#172. Rock Hill
- Violent crimes per 1k: 4.41
- Property crimes per 1k: 23.48
- Auto fatalities per 100k: 14.65
- Disaster risk: Relatively moderate
#219. Charleston
- Violent crimes per 1k: 3.58
- Property crimes per 1k: 20.22
- Auto fatalities per 100k: 15.11
- Disaster risk: Relatively high
#278. Columbia
- Violent crimes per 1k: 7.7
- Property crimes per 1k: 32.33
- Auto fatalities per 100k: 15.94
- Disaster risk: Relatively moderate
#288. Greenville
- Violent crimes per 1k: 6.44
- Property crimes per 1k: 34.68
- Auto fatalities per 100k: 17.83
- Disaster risk: Relatively moderate
#319. North Charleston
- Violent crimes per 1k: 8.1
- Property crimes per 1k: 39.56
- Auto fatalities per 100k: 15.11
- Disaster risk: Relatively high
In comparison, these are the top 5 safest mid-sized cities in the nation, according to the study:
5 safest mid-sized cities in the US
The safest cities in the country have some of the nation’s lowest violent crime, property crime and auto fatality rates, and all have very low, to relatively low, natural disaster risks.
#1. Broomfield, Colorado
Broomfield is America’s safest mid-sized city, and has below-average violent and property crime rates, 1.5 and 19 per 1,000 residents, respectively, and a modest motor vehicle fatality rate of about 5 per 100,000 residents, according to SmartAsset.
Broomfield is also the only city evaluated with a FEMA natural disaster risk rating of “very low,” which reflects expected disaster losses, social vulnerability and community resilience.
#2. State College, Pennsylvania
State College has 1.53 violent crimes and 7.64 property crimes per 1,000 residents. The city has 7.63 auto fatalities per 100,000 residents and a relatively low disaster risk.
#3. Warwick, Rhode Island
Warwick has 0.79 violent crimes and 11.47 property crimes per 1,000 residents. The city has 7.39 auto fatalities per 100,000 residents and a relatively low disaster risk.
#4. Ames, Iowa
Ames has 1.48 violent crimes and 15.06 property crimes per 1,000 residents. The city has 4.51 auto fatalities per 100,000 residents and a relatively low disaster risk.
#5. Logan, Utah
Logan has 1.37 violent crimes and 11.30 property crimes per 1,000 residents. The city has 8.68 auto fatalities per 100,000 residents and it has a relatively low disaster risk.
If you want to check out the full list of cities, click here, and scroll to the bottom.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 6:00 AM with the headline "5 cities in SC are among most unsafe in US, new report shows. Here’s where, how unsafe."