Charleston is a city of 4,800 in Mississippi County, about 30 miles south of downtown Cape Girardeau · Updated November 2026
Is Charleston, MO safe?
Yes, crime in Charleston is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Charleston sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 53% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Charleston run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 851 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
53% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Charleston as a whole, and 47% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Charleston scores 851.
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 Charleston, MO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Charleston, 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 Charleston
Aggravated assaults run high for an A-graded city. Charleston has 7.5 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Crime rates and types in Charleston
CrimeGrade™ estimates Charleston has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to Missouri.
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 Charleston is assault, about 41% 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 Charleston
Charleston has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (67%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (60%)
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 Charleston compares with nearby cities
Charleston has the most crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in Charleston
Two things set Charleston apart: it has 4.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 15.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 97% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.15.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 97% of US city residents
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 and assault. 70% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Charleston: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 78% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 74% of US city residents
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 Charleston
Crime costs Charleston about $1,823 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 51% 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 $14 million a year, or $2,838 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$860,000
$180
Rape
$130,000
$27
Robbery
$18,000
$4
Assault
$1.3 million
$274
Burglary
$79,000
$17
Theft
$270,000
$56
Vehicle theft
$220,000
$46
Arson
$16,000
$3
Vandalism
$220,000
$46
Total
$3.1 million
$653
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 Charleston 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.
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.
Schools in Charleston, MO average a SchoolGrade of F: 26% of students test proficient, against 28% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Charleston on SchoolGrade
