The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Forest Acres, SC
Forest Acres is a city of 11,300 in Richland County, about 4 miles northeast of downtown Columbia · Updated November 2026
Is Forest Acres, SC safe?
Crime in Forest Acres is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 66% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Forest Acres. Violent and property crime both grade B+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Forest Acres run from A to F, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 735 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
34% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Forest Acres as a whole, and 66% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Forest Acres scores 735.
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 Forest Acres, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Forest Acres, 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 Forest Acres
Aggravated assaults are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Forest Acres runs 54% above the US rate, but aggravated assaults run 24% below it: 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Thefts run high. Forest Acres has thefts at more than double the US rate: 31.3 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Forest Acres
Most of Forest Acres grades well: 94% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 1% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Forest Acres run from A to F; 12% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
94%
A or B 94%C 5%D or F 1%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Forest Acres, the center has the least crime and the west side the most.
Is crime going up in Forest Acres?
Reported crime in Forest Acres has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 53% and property crime down 46%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.7 to 2.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 58 to 32 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 39%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Forest AcresUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Forest Acres. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Forest Acres
Violent, US
Property, Forest Acres
Property, US
2016
+20%
+4%
-13%
+15%
2017
-7%
+4%
-1%
+12%
2018
-21%
+0%
+2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-35%
+4%
-12%
-8%
2021
-30%
+6%
-28%
-10%
2022
-45%
+5%
-41%
-6%
2023
-23%
+2%
-46%
-7%
2024
-53%
-4%
-46%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Forest Acres
CrimeGrade™ estimates Forest Acres has about 57 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 54% 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 Forest Acres is theft, about 55% 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.
The Forest Acres Police Department's 2024 count of burglary fell far below its usual level, a sign of a reporting break, so CrimeGrade™ used the department's earlier years instead.
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 Forest Acres
Forest Acres has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Forest Acres, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 43% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (57%)
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 Forest Acres compares with nearby cities
Forest Acres has less crime than 6 of its 8 nearest cities; only Killian and Springdale have less.
Shops, night lighting and walkability in Forest Acres
One thing sets Forest Acres apart: it has 22.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.22.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 98% of US city residents
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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. 71% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (22 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 66% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.58 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 74% 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.7.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 68% 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.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 67% 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 Forest Acres
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Forest Acres about $1,156 a year per household, about the same as 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 $19 million a year, or $1,647 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.3 million
$119
Rape
$220,000
$20
Robbery
$150,000
$13
Assault
$1.5 million
$135
Burglary
$390,000
$35
Theft
$1.8 million
$161
Vehicle theft
$410,000
$36
Arson
$19,000
$2
Vandalism
$490,000
$44
Total
$6.4 million
$564
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 Forest Acres 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 Forest Acres, SC average a SchoolGrade of C-: 48% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Forest Acres on SchoolGrade
