The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Chester County, SC
Chester County is home to 32,200 residents and includes Chester and Great Falls · Updated November 2026
Is Chester County, SC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Chester County is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Chester County sits near the middle: 52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Chester County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 847 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Chester County as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Chester County scores 847.
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 Chester County, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Chester 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 Chester County
Aggravated assaults run high for an A-graded county. Chester County has 4.7 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US county, the figure is 1.6.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Chester County, 75% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Chester County
In Chester County, 79% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 3% in areas graded C and 18% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Chester County run from A+ to F; 68% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
79%18%
A or B 79%C 3%D or F 18%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Chester County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the southwest side has the least crime and the Chester area the most.
Is crime going up in Chester County?
Reported violent crime in Chester County peaked in 2022 and has fallen 28% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 36% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.2 to 5.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 26 to 17 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Chester CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Chester County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Chester County
Violent, US
Property, Chester County
Property, US
2016
+7%
+4%
+18%
+15%
2017
-18%
+4%
+1%
+12%
2018
-2%
+0%
+7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+1%
+4%
-18%
-8%
2021
+0%
+6%
-35%
-10%
2022
+32%
+5%
-28%
-6%
2023
-1%
+2%
-33%
-7%
2024
-5%
-4%
-36%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Chester County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Chester County has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 5% more than the US as a whole and close to 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Chester County, about 38% of everything reported.
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 Chester County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Chester County, 2022 to 2024.
In Chester County, 69% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (69%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (67%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (64%)
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 Chester County compares with nearby counties
Chester County has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest counties.
Walkability, density and night lighting in Chester County
Two things set Chester County apart: it has a Walk Grade of F (5 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 1% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
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. 96% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (5 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 95% 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 95% of Americans
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.28% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 94% of Americans
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.10.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 88% 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 Chester County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 83% 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 Chester County
Crime costs Chester County about $1,982 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 64% 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 $124 million a year, or $3,860 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$12 million
$388
Rape
$790,000
$24
Robbery
$390,000
$12
Assault
$6.7 million
$207
Burglary
$1.1 million
$33
Theft
$1.9 million
$59
Vehicle theft
$830,000
$26
Arson
$100,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.4 million
$44
Total
$26 million
$797
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 Chester 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.
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 Chester County, SC average a SchoolGrade of D: 41% of students test proficient, against 25% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Chester County on SchoolGrade
