Surfside Beach is a town of 6,160 in Horry County, about 7 miles southwest of downtown Myrtle Beach · Updated November 2026
Is Surfside Beach, SC safe?
Yes, crime in Surfside Beach is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Surfside Beach sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 50% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Surfside Beach run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 835 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Surfside Beach as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Surfside Beach scores 835.
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 Surfside Beach, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Surfside Beach, 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 Surfside Beach
Burglary stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Surfside Beach has 4.6.
Crime rates and types in Surfside Beach
CrimeGrade™ estimates Surfside Beach has about 45 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 20% 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 Surfside Beach, about 34% 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 Surfside Beach
Surfside Beach has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (32%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Surfside Beach compares with nearby cities
Surfside Beach has less crime than 4 of its 6 nearest cities; only Murrells Inlet and Conway have less.
Empty homes, shops and walkability in Surfside Beach
Two things set Surfside Beach apart: it has 22.8% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 34.9 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that 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.22.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.34.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% 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.C (38 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% 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.under 1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 93% 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 Surfside Beach: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.51 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 64% 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 Surfside Beach
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Surfside Beach about $1,061 a year per household, 12% 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 $9.5 million a year, or $1,541 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$630,000
$102
Rape
$120,000
$20
Robbery
$32,000
$5
Assault
$1.0 million
$163
Burglary
$250,000
$41
Theft
$360,000
$59
Vehicle theft
$240,000
$39
Arson
$24,000
$4
Vandalism
$440,000
$72
Total
$3.1 million
$504
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 Surfside Beach 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 Surfside Beach, SC average a SchoolGrade of A+: 63% of students test proficient, against 45% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Surfside Beach on SchoolGrade
