The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Clemson, SC
Clemson is a city of 25,800 in Pickens County, about 25 miles southwest of downtown Greenville · Updated November 2026
Is Clemson, SC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Clemson is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Clemson sits near the middle: 46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A- and property crime B+. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to B+; see the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 817 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Clemson as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Clemson scores 817.
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 Clemson, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Clemson, 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 Clemson
Car thefts run high for an A-graded city. Clemson has 3.1 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.93.
One weak spot: reported rape. It grades B in Clemson, worse than in the neighborhoods where 79% of Americans live, against A- for violent crime as a whole.
The safest and least safe parts of Clemson
Every part of Clemson where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Clemson run from A to B+; 47% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Clemson, the southeast side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in Clemson?
Reported crime in Clemson has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 18% and property crime down 23%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.0 to 1.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 26 to 20 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ClemsonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Clemson. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Clemson
Violent, US
Property, Clemson
Property, US
2016
-6%
+4%
+20%
+15%
2017
-58%
+4%
-20%
+12%
2018
-36%
+0%
-21%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-17%
+4%
-16%
-8%
2021
+2%
+6%
-12%
-10%
2022
+31%
+5%
-13%
-6%
2023
-41%
+2%
-20%
-7%
2024
-18%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Clemson
CrimeGrade™ estimates Clemson has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% less than the US as a whole and 28% less 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.
Theft makes up about 37% of crime reported in Clemson. Simple assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Clemson
Clemson has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Clemson, 83% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 56% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (83%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Clemson compares with nearby cities
Clemson has the most crime of its 6 nearest cities.
One thing sets Clemson apart: it has a Walk Grade of C- (30 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 61% of residents in Clemson live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and assault runs high 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 and assault.C- (30 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 81% of US city residents
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 Clemson: D- (10 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 68% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.53 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 68% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.27% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 65% 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.7.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 62% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.10.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 54% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Clemson on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Clemson
Crime costs Clemson about $1,111 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 8% less 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 $24 million a year, or $924 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.2 million
$47
Rape
$840,000
$33
Robbery
$100,000
$4
Aggravated assault
$820,000
$32
Simple assault
$1.7 million
$65
Burglary
$390,000
$15
Theft
$1.6 million
$60
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$48
Arson
$25,000
$1
Vandalism
$830,000
$32
Total
$8.7 million
$337
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 Clemson 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 Clemson, SC average a SchoolGrade of A-: 58% of students test proficient, against 51% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Clemson on SchoolGrade
