The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Barnwell County, SC
Barnwell County is home to 20,500 residents and includes Barnwell and Williston · Updated November 2026
Is Barnwell County, SC safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Barnwell County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 63% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Barnwell County run from A+ to C, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 887 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Barnwell County as a whole, and 37% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Barnwell County scores 887.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Barnwell County, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Barnwell County, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Barnwell County
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Barnwell County, 69% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
Burglaries and aggravated assaults both run high. In Barnwell County, each runs at more than double the US rate: 5.2 burglaries and 5.9 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 and 2.6 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Barnwell County
Most of Barnwell County grades well: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Barnwell County run from A+ to C; 56% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
91%
A or B 91%C 9%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Across the county, the southeast side has the least crime and the Barnwell area the most.
Is crime going up in Barnwell County?
Reported crime in Barnwell County has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 16% and property crime down 34%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 8.5 to 7.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 35 to 23 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 15% and property crime fell 25%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Barnwell CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Barnwell County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Barnwell County
Violent, US
Property, Barnwell County
Property, US
2016
-15%
+4%
-6%
+15%
2017
-31%
+4%
-13%
+12%
2018
-13%
+0%
-6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+40%
+4%
-10%
-8%
2021
-34%
+6%
-23%
-10%
2022
-16%
+5%
-21%
-6%
2023
-27%
+2%
-13%
-7%
2024
-16%
-4%
-34%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Barnwell County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Barnwell County has about 57 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 53% more than the US as a whole and 28% more than South Carolina.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
The largest share of crime reported in Barnwell County is assault, about 39% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Barnwell County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Barnwell County, 2022 to 2024.
In Barnwell County, 77% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 52% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (77%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (69%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (52%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (65%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (73%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Barnwell County compares with nearby counties
Barnwell County has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Barnwell County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Barnwell County has more crime than 92% of them.
Empty homes, density and walkability in Barnwell County
Two things set Barnwell County apart: it has 16.0% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 1% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson, yet burglary runs lower here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.16.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 98% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 93% of Americans
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 93% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (6 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 92% of Americans
Show all 6
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.31% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 93% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.26 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 93% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Barnwell County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Barnwell County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Barnwell County about $2,036 a year per household, 69% more than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $68 million a year, or $3,333 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.3 million
$257
Rape
$730,000
$35
Robbery
$220,000
$11
Assault
$5.9 million
$289
Burglary
$970,000
$47
Theft
$1.6 million
$79
Vehicle theft
$840,000
$41
Arson
$210,000
$10
Vandalism
$1.4 million
$68
Total
$17 million
$839
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Barnwell County means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them. Barnwell County is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
