The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Sumter, SC
Sumter is a city of 79,900 in Sumter County and the main city of the Sumter metro area, home to 104,700 · Updated November 2026
Is Sumter, SC safe?
Crime in Sumter is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 74% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Sumter. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Sumter run from A to F, so check the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 644 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Sumter as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Sumter scores 644.
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 Sumter, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Sumter, 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 Sumter
Aggravated assault stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 3.1 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Sumter has 7.7.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Sumter, 75% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Sumter
Safety changes a lot from one part of Sumter to the next: 77% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 20% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Sumter run from A to F; 25% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
77%20%
A or B 77%C 3%D or F 20%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Sumter, the southwest side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Sumter?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Sumter is down 19%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 11 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 46 to 38 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 24%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
SumterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Sumter. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Sumter
Violent, US
Property, Sumter
Property, US
2016
-33%
+4%
-8%
+15%
2017
-20%
+4%
+2%
+12%
2018
-12%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+7%
+4%
-26%
-8%
2021
-23%
+6%
-30%
-10%
2022
-18%
+5%
-30%
-6%
2023
-17%
+2%
-14%
-7%
2024
+3%
-4%
-19%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Sumter
CrimeGrade™ estimates Sumter has about 59 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 60% more than the US as a whole and 33% 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Sumter, about 38% 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.
Where and when crime happens in Sumter
Sumter has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Sumter, 64% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (64%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (63%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (68%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (66%)
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 Sumter compares with nearby cities
Of the 5 cities closest to Sumter, 4 have less crime. Wedgefield and Mayesville have the least.
Two things set Sumter apart: it has 12.1% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (8 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.12.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 92% 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 Sumter: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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. 92% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (8 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 82% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 81% 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.71% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 77% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 70% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Sumter 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 Sumter
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Sumter about $2,202 a year per household, 83% 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 $291 million a year, or $3,643 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$22 million
$279
Rape
$1.2 million
$15
Robbery
$1.2 million
$16
Assault
$26 million
$328
Burglary
$2.6 million
$33
Theft
$8.8 million
$110
Vehicle theft
$5.1 million
$64
Arson
$200,000
$3
Vandalism
$3.7 million
$46
Total
$71 million
$892
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 Sumter 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 Sumter, SC average a SchoolGrade of D-: 38% of students test proficient, against 24% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Sumter on SchoolGrade
