Crime in West Columbia, South Carolina
Major crime in West Columbia is 2.4 times the U.S. rate per resident: 1.8 times for persons crimes and 2.5 times for property crimes. Expected major crimes are down 6.8% from a year earlier.
Modeled estimates per resident, not counts of incidents. How we calculated this
Index: crimes per resident compared with the U.S., where 100 is the U.S. rate and 200 is twice it.
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Shoplifting stands out most, at 4.3 times the U.S. rate
Expected crimes per year in West Columbia for each type, and the index against the U.S. rate per resident.
Citywide indexWhere the middle half of residents live
Property crimes
Social disorder
How crime varies across West Columbia
The middle half of West Columbia residents live in neighborhoods with a major-crime index between 158 and 309; the typical (median) resident's is 232.
- 0–504.4%
- 50–1005.0%
- 100–20036.3%
- 200–40046.5%
- 400+7.8%
Share of residents by the index of their census block group, a neighborhood of roughly 600 to 3,000 people.
Highest on weekdays, day and night
Major-crime index by time of week, against the U.S. rate for the same hours.
Major crime fell 6.8% in a year; across South Carolina it fell 7.5%
Change in expected crimes, with South Carolina as a whole in gray. The past year uses the reporting agencies' year-to-date FBI data; 2031 is the model's projection.
West Columbia against U.S. places with 10,000 to 25,000 residents
62 of the 2,149 other places of this size have a higher major-crime index than West Columbia; the middle of the group is 72. The 9 nearest in population:
Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; residents in gray.
West Columbia has a higher major-crime index than 7 of its 8 nearest neighbors
The 8 nearest cities and towns we cover, by major-crime index. The closest, Cayce (2 mi), is 27% below West Columbia's rate.
Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; distances between where residents live, in miles.
Questions about crime in West Columbia
What are the most common crimes in West Columbia?
By expected count, the most common persons and property crimes are shoplifting (about 279 a year), other larceny (about 225 a year) and theft from vehicle (about 124 a year). Compared with the U.S., shoplifting stands out most: 4.3 times the U.S. rate per resident.
How we calculated this
Each police agency's crimes, as reported to the FBI, are spread across the census block groups it serves using population, jobs, points of interest and, where available, local incident records. West Columbia's figures add up its 16 block groups. The index compares crimes per resident with the U.S. rate.
- West Columbia's published incident records inform the estimate for every neighborhood.
- 55.8% of residents live in block groups whose estimate has high confidence (80% interval within about 5x).
- Rates are per resident, so places where many people work or visit but few live, such as downtowns, airports and stadiums, can read high.
- Disorderly conduct and trespassing are modeled, because the FBI records them only through arrests.
- Residents: 20,217. Model updated Oct 20, 2026. Release 2026-2026-10-20-2
Full method and validation·Data sources
CrimeMetric. "Crime in West Columbia, South Carolina." Vorp Labs, model updated Oct 20, 2026. https://crimemetric.com/sc/west-columbia
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Get a free API keyNearest cities we publish
Major-crime index, U.S. = 100
- Cayce2 mi174
- Oak Grove4 mi107
- St. Andrews4 mi253
- Seven Oaks5 mi227
- Columbia6 mi214
- Forest Acres7 mi151
- Lexington8 mi106
- Red Bank9 mi141