Emerson is a town of 1,490 in Columbus County, about 25 miles northwest of Little River · Updated November 2026
Is Emerson, NC safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Emerson: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 75% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A+.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 923 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
75% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Emerson as a whole, and 25% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Emerson scores 923.
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 Emerson, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Emerson, 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
Crime rates and types in Emerson
CrimeGrade™ estimates Emerson has about 10 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 72% less than the US as a whole and 75% less than North 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 Emerson, about 34% 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 Emerson
The Tabor City Police Department polices Emerson; these figures cover Tabor City as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Tabor City as a whole, 77% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (77%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
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 Emerson compares with nearby cities
Emerson has less crime than 4 of its 5 nearest cities; only Green Sea, SC has less.
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Emerson about $2,244 a year per household, 86% 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 $1.6 million a year, or $1,068 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$180,000
$122
Rape
$8,300
$6
Robbery
$2,800
$2
Assault
$57,000
$38
Burglary
$21,000
$14
Theft
$13,000
$9
Vehicle theft
$13,000
$9
Arson
$3,400
$2
Vandalism
$28,000
$19
Total
$330,000
$221
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 Emerson 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 Emerson, NC average a SchoolGrade of D-: 41% of students test proficient, against 41% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Emerson on SchoolGrade
