The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Ladson, SC
Ladson is an unincorporated community of 42,100 in Dorchester County, about 18 miles northwest of downtown Charleston · Updated November 2026
Is Ladson, SC safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Ladson has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 66% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ladson run from A- to C+, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 737 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
34% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ladson as a whole, and 66% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ladson scores 737.
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 Ladson, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ladson, 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
The safest and least safe parts of Ladson
Low crime is the norm across Ladson: 97% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Ladson run from A- to C+; 4% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
97%
A or B 97%C 3%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Ladson, the south side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Crime rates and types in Ladson
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ladson has about 33 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 11% less than the US as a whole and 25% 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Ladson, about 44% of everything reported, and it also accounts for 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.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Ladson compares with nearby cities
Ladson has less crime than 4 of its 8 nearest cities.
Two things set Ladson apart: it has 6.2 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (9 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
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
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 86% 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- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 81% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Ladson: F (0 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 66% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 64% 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.10% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 61% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Ladson 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 Ladson
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Ladson about $1,049 a year per household, 13% 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 $53 million a year, or $1,260 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.3 million
$77
Rape
$620,000
$15
Robbery
$450,000
$11
Assault
$6.7 million
$160
Burglary
$680,000
$16
Theft
$2.2 million
$52
Vehicle theft
$1.4 million
$34
Arson
$38,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$26
Total
$17 million
$392
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 Ladson 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 Ladson, SC average a SchoolGrade of D+: 42% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Ladson on SchoolGrade
