Great Falls is a town of 4,140 in Chester County, about 45 miles south of downtown Charlotte · Updated November 2026
Is Great Falls, SC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Great Falls is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Great Falls sits near the middle: 50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Great Falls run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 837 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Great Falls as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Great Falls scores 837.
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 Great Falls, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Great Falls, 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 Great Falls
Aggravated assaults run high for an A-graded city. Great Falls has 4.9 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Burglaries run high. Great Falls has burglaries at more than double the US rate: 5.2 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Great Falls
CrimeGrade™ estimates Great Falls has about 47 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 26% 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 Great Falls, about 40% 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.
How Great Falls compares with nearby cities
Great Falls has the most crime of its 2 nearest cities.
Density, night lighting and walkability in Great Falls
Two things set Great Falls apart: it has 13% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 18 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and they run low here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.NoneUS: 24%Lower than for 97% 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.13% where people liveUS: 78%Lower 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. 94% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (7 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 87% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.18 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 89% 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 Great Falls: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.9.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 81% 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 Great Falls
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Great Falls about $1,591 a year per household, 32% 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 $12 million a year, or $2,954 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.0 million
$242
Rape
$120,000
$28
Robbery
$37,000
$9
Assault
$990,000
$239
Burglary
$190,000
$47
Theft
$290,000
$69
Vehicle theft
$170,000
$40
Arson
$18,000
$4
Vandalism
$170,000
$42
Total
$3.0 million
$721
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 Great Falls 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 Great Falls, SC average a SchoolGrade of D+: 43% of students test proficient, against 24% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Great Falls on SchoolGrade
