The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Surfside Beach, SC: Crime Maps and Statistics

D-

Overall Crime Grade™

Violent Crime Grade	D+
Property Crime Grade	C-
Other Crime Grade	F

Which crimes are included?

$2.99 million

Cost of Crime™ for Surfside Beach, SC

In 2025, crime will cost $1,148 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of Surfside Beach with the least crime overall and red marks the most. Each area is weighted by the type and severity of every offense, so a place with rare but serious violent crime can grade differently from one with frequent petty theft. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains how to read the colors.

Is Surfside Beach, SC Safe?

The D- overall grade blends the violent, property, and other grades shown above into one measure, set against the average US city, where Surfside Beach's combined rate is higher than the norm. Surfside Beach sits in the 15th percentile, ahead of 15% of cities and behind 85%. The grade covers only Surfside Beach's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.

The overall crime rate in Surfside Beach is 42.46 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally consider the southeast part of the city the safest. Your chance of being a victim ranges from 1 in 19 in the east neighborhoods to 1 in 31 in the southeast.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the southwest parts of Surfside Beach, SC report the most crime, about 60 cases per year. The southeast part reports the fewest, around 0 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in Surfside Beach, SC

Across all crime types, the projected cost of crime in Surfside Beach for 2025 is $2,991,211, about $537 per resident and $1,148 per household. That equals 1.3% of the median household income. These figures cover tangible costs, which include:

Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 61.0%
Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 26.8%
Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 12.1%

How Much Does Crime Cost in Surfside Beach Compared to Other Cities?

Surfside Beach, SC:	$537
Denmark, SC:	$1981
Little River, SC:	$310
South Carolina:	$666
USA:	$464

The overall cost of crime per resident in Surfside Beach is $537 per year, which is $73 more than the national average and $129 less than South Carolina's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Surfside Beach:

In Denmark, SC, crime costs $1,981 per person, which is $1,443 more than in Surfside Beach.
In Little River, SC, crime costs $310 per person, which is $227 less than in Surfside Beach

2025 Projected Cost by Type of Crime

The table below shows the total cost of crime to the residents of Surfside Beach for the year 2025 along with the projected cost per resident.

Crime	Cost to Surfside Beach	Cost per Surfside Beach Resident
Murder	$436,610	$78
Rape/Sexual Assault	$283,139	$51
Robbery	$105,300	$19
Assault	$397,396	$71
Kidnapping	$59,750	$11
Vehicle Theft	$380,805	$68
Burglary	$161,681	$29
Theft	$252,493	$45
Arson	$28,579	$5
Vandalism	$296,678	$53
Animal Cruelty	$5,611	$1
Drug Crimes	$568,989	$102
Identity Theft	$14,178	$3
Total Cost of Crime	$2,991,211	$537

The Intangible Cost of Crime in Surfside Beach, SC

The totals above count tangible costs only. Violent crime also carries a human cost, the pain and trauma borne by victims and their families, which research-based methods estimate so it can be compared across places. That intangible cost in Surfside Beach totals $4,411,092 ($792 per resident), and all of it comes from violent crime rather than property loss. Added to the tangible costs, the full estimate reaches $7,402,303 ($1,329 per resident). All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Crime Maps

Crime rates on the map are measured per resident, so areas with heavy visitor traffic can read high because crime follows crowds, even where few people live. The southwest part of the city holds more retail establishments, which lifts recorded crime around those blocks. A red area does not always mean the neighborhood is unsafe for residents.

Airports, parks, and transit hubs create the same effect. Major airports draw large crowds with few residents nearby, so they read as high-crime spots. Parks and recreational areas, of which Surfside Beach has 8, do the same, and of Surfside Beach's 5,569 residents few live beside them. Before assuming an area is unsafe, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total number of incidents, and note what sits nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Surfside Beach, SC at ISP Reports.

Surfside Beach Crime Breakdown

The tables below show which crimes are used to calculate the Crime Grades above. All crime rates are shown as the number of crimes per 1,000 Surfside Beach residents in a standard year.

Violent Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Assault	2.485
Robbery	0.6011
Rape	0.8385
Murder	0.0417
Total Violent Crime	3.966 (D+)

Property Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Theft	8.754
Vehicle Theft	4.416
Burglary	3.201
Arson	0.2125
Total Property Crime	16.58 (C-)

Other Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Kidnapping	0.1770
Drug Crimes	13.81
Vandalism	7.457
Identity Theft	0.3289
Animal Cruelty	0.1362
Total "Other" Rate	21.91 (F)

Individual Surfside Beach Crime Maps & Stats

Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities

Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of crime in Surfside Beach is similar. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to Surfside Beach.

Nearby City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Socastee, SC	D-	D	D
Garden City, SC	F	D	F
Myrtle Beach, SC	D-	D	D-
Murrells Inlet, SC	D+	C	C
Red Hill, SC	D	D+	D
Ocean Forest, SC	B	C+	A
Yauhannah, SC	C-	C-	C
Plantersville, SC	D-	D-	D
Briarcliffe Acres, SC	F	D	F
Outland, SC	D	D	D+

Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations

Surfside Beach is higher versus other cities of the same size for crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.

Similar City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Oak Hill, TN	D-	D	D
Paradise, PA	A-	A	A
Palisade, CO	D	D-	D-
Painted Post, NY	A-	C+	C+
Oxford, ME	C+	B	B
Ottawa Hills, OH	C	C	C
Osage, IA	C+	B-	B-
Olivet, MI	B-	C-	C-
Okolona, MS	B-	B+	B+
Ojus, FL	C-	C	C

Considering only the crime rate, Surfside Beach is as safe as the South Carolina state average and less safe than the national average.

Safety and school performance are separate topics, but both shape moving decisions. Using SchoolGrade data, schools in Surfside Beach, SC average SchoolGrade of B+, with 52% actual proficiency versus 39% projected; overall, schools greatly exceed expectations. See Surfside Beach schools on SchoolGrade

About the Data

CrimeGrade.org provides highly detailed and accurate crime data, used by insurance companies, home security firms, and other industries. Our data is available for licensing—learn more about our USA crime data and licensing.

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All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.