Ware Shoals is a town of 4,660 in Greenwood County, about 30 miles south of downtown Greenville · Updated November 2026
Is Ware Shoals, SC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Ware Shoals is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Ware Shoals sits near the middle: 54% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 46% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ware Shoals run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 854 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
54% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ware Shoals as a whole, and 46% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ware Shoals scores 854.
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 Ware Shoals, SC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ware Shoals, 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 Ware Shoals
Aggravated assaults run high for an A-graded city. Ware Shoals has 3.0 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Crime rates and types in Ware Shoals
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ware Shoals has about 42 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 12% 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.
Theft makes up about 41% of crime reported in Ware Shoals. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Ware Shoals
Ware Shoals has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (63%)
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 Ware Shoals compares with nearby cities
Ware Shoals has the most crime of its 8 nearest cities.
Two things set Ware Shoals apart: it has 15.5% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 14 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson; here burglary and vandalism sit near the national middle.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.15.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 97% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.14 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 93% 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. 93% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (7 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 6
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.32% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 92% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 89% 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.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 87% 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 Ware Shoals
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Ware Shoals about $1,280 a year per household, 6% 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 $7.1 million a year, or $1,523 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$440,000
$95
Rape
$94,000
$20
Robbery
$16,000
$3
Assault
$720,000
$155
Burglary
$130,000
$28
Theft
$410,000
$89
Vehicle theft
$79,000
$17
Arson
$11,000
$2
Vandalism
$240,000
$52
Total
$2.1 million
$461
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 Ware Shoals 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 Ware Shoals, SC average a SchoolGrade of B-: 53% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Ware Shoals on SchoolGrade
