The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lexington County, SC
Lexington County is home to 304,900 residents and includes Lexington and West Columbia · Updated November 2026
Is Lexington County, SC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Lexington County is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Lexington County sits near the middle: 47% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 53% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lexington County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 821 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
47% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lexington County as a whole, and 53% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lexington County scores 821.
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 Lexington County, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lexington County, 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 Lexington County
Burglaries run high for an A-graded county. Lexington County has 2.9 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US county, the figure is 1.4.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Lexington County, 63% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
Robbery runs low. Lexington County has 0.25 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 0.62.
The safest and most dangerous places in Lexington County
Low crime is the norm across Lexington County: 94% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 2% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Lexington County run from A+ to F; 58% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
94%
A or B 94%C 4%D or F 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Lexington County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the Chapin and Gilbert areas have the least crime and the West Columbia area the most.
Is crime going up in Lexington County?
Reported violent crime in Lexington County peaked in 2022 and has fallen 19% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 36% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.4 to 3.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 30 to 19 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 10%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Lexington CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Lexington County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Lexington County
Violent, US
Property, Lexington County
Property, US
2016
+10%
+4%
-6%
+15%
2017
+5%
+4%
-3%
+12%
2018
+11%
+0%
+2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+2%
+4%
+9%
-8%
2021
+7%
+6%
-6%
-10%
2022
+17%
+5%
-14%
-6%
2023
+0%
+2%
-28%
-7%
2024
-5%
-4%
-36%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Lexington County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lexington County has about 41 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 11% 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Lexington County is assault, about 38% 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.
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 Lexington County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Lexington County, 2022 to 2024.
In Lexington County, 68% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (68%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (57%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (63%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (64%)
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 Lexington County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Lexington County, 8 have less crime. Edgefield County and Saluda County have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Lexington County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Lexington County has more crime than 63% of them.
Walkability, density and night lighting in Lexington County
Two things set Lexington County apart: it has a Walk Grade of D- (7 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 3% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
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. 94% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (7 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 91% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 85% of Americans
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.69% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 72% of Americans
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 68% of Americans
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 Lexington County: F (4 of 100).1 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 62% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.47 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 60% of Americans
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 Lexington County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Lexington County about $1,171 a year per household, about the same as the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $137 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $415 million a year, or $1,362 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$23 million
$77
Rape
$5.8 million
$19
Robbery
$2.4 million
$8
Assault
$53 million
$173
Burglary
$7.8 million
$26
Theft
$23 million
$76
Vehicle theft
$10 million
$34
Arson
$570,000
$2
Vandalism
$11 million
$35
Total
$137 million
$449
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 Lexington County 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 Lexington County, SC average a SchoolGrade of C+: 51% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Lexington County on SchoolGrade
