These are the 10 most dangerous SC cities, FBI statistics show. Do you live in one?

Lyn Riddle
·2 min read
9

Orangeburg is South Carolina’s most dangerous city for 2023, according to an analysis by Southwest Journal, based on FBI statistics.

West Columbia was ranked 10th.

Author Michael Rivera said he has spent some time in South Carolina and sees an underbelly beyond nature preserves, beach vacations and NASCAR racing.

“I can tell you that it’s not all sweet tea and Southern hospitality. There’s a darker side to the Palmetto State that’s worth discussing,” he wrote.

He said the reasons are many, but drug use plays a role.

“The dangers in these areas are serious and life-threatening,” he wrote.

Orangeburg ranked first in violent crimes per 100,000 with 1,731 crimes among its 12,500 residents. Property crimes were 6,560, the fourth most dangerous in the state.

Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler could not be reached immediately for comment.

According to recent news reports from various outlets, Orangeburg experienced a crime spree in which three men were arrested after a carjacking, a mother was arrested for sex trafficking her daughter and a 15-year old was shot and killed on Easter morning.

Rivera detailed the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre as the most horrific crime.

Highway patrolmen fired on about 200 unarmed civil rights protesters at South Carolina State University, killing three and wounding 28.

The History Channel called it “one of the most violent episodes of the civil rights movement, yet it remains one of the least recognized.”

West Columbia was listed as having 777 violent crimes and 8,014 property crimes among 18,143 residents.

“Violence doesn’t reach scary levels, but property crime represents a major problem,” Rivera wrote. “West Columbia suffers the number 2 highest level of property crime in South Carolina.”

Six of the 10 cities on Southwest Journal’s list were in the Pee Dee — Darlington (2), Florence (3), Myrtle Beach (5), Georgetown, (7), Hartsville (8), and Marion (9).

Of Myrtle Beach, Rivera wrote, “While the city has seen a decline in violent crime, it’s the property crime rates that are a cause for concern. In 2020, residents had a 1 in 11 chance of being a victim of theft or damage, making Myrtle Beach the city with the highest overall crime rate in South Carolina, a staggering 365% above the national average.”

Spartanburg (4) and Greenwood (6) round out the Top 10. Rivera noted Greenwood suffers an average of a violent crime a day, most notably rape.