CurrentCrimeMap

Data through September 2026, Charleston Police Department

Crime in Charleston, WV

The violent crime rate in Charleston is 568 per 100,000 residents per year over the 12 months to September 2026, 30% above the average of the 302 cities and county areas we cover.

The West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston.
Photo: Daniel G Rego, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped

The numbers

12 months to Sep 2026

Violent crime

568 per 100,000 residents, per year

261 reported in the 12 months to Sep 2026

Property crime

3,669 per 100,000 residents, per year

1,686 reported in the 12 months to Sep 2026

All reported

4,236 per 100,000 residents, per year

1,947 reported in the 12 months to Sep 2026

Annual rates: reported incidents over the last 12 months per 100,000 residents (population 45,958, U.S. Census).

What counts as violent and property crime

Counted the FBI's way, the same for every city: violent crime is homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crime is burglary, theft, vehicle theft and arson. Simple assault is not counted as violent. How we count

Where Charleston sits among covered places

violent, per 100k, per year

568

Charleston has the 82nd-highest rate of the 302 cities and county areas on this site, higher than 220 of the other 301.

Carmel 51avg 437Detroit 1,632

The ring is Charleston; the tick is the average of all 302 cities and county areas.

PlaceViolent per 100kRank
Worcester, MA60077
Lakewood, CO59078
Spokane, WA58179
Rochester, NY58180
Boston, MA57581
Charleston, WV56882
Riverside, CA56883
Fayetteville, NC56384
Modesto, CA55585
Dallas, TX54986
Anaheim, CA54687

The places closest to Charleston in the ranking, highest rate first. See all 302 cities and county areas

Charleston crime map

cities around it
Loading map…

SaferHigher rateViolent crimes per 100,000 residents per year, for each whole city. The colors are not crime locations.

The FBI publishes citywide totals from Charleston Police Department, not where each crime happened, so this map fills Charleston, WV with its whole-city rate instead of plotting crimes. The nearest covered cities are more than 60 miles away: zoom out to see them, or use the table below.

Of the 8 covered cities nearest Charleston, 2 have a higher violent crime rate and 6 a lower one. The closest is Raleigh County, WV (Sheriff), 47 miles away.

Charleston and the covered places nearest to it, with each one’s violent crime rate and distance
PlaceViolent per 100kDistance
Charleston, WV568
Kanawha County, WV (Sheriff)County area, not drawn on the map433Same area
Raleigh County, WV (Sheriff)County area, not drawn on the map15847 mi
Monongalia County, WV (Sheriff)County area, not drawn on the map71123 mi
Columbus, OH355134 mi
Lexington, KY216155 mi
Cincinnati, OH835164 mi
Pittsburgh, PA469169 mi
Dayton, OH1,254170 mi
About the colors and distances

Colors use the same scale as the rest of the site, from the lowest to the highest violent crime rate among the 302 cities and county areas we cover. City outlines from the U.S. Census Bureau. Distances are straight-line, between city centers.

Reported crime by type

12 months to Sep 2026
OffenseReportedPer 100kvs. previous monthvs. a year earlier
HomicideViolent24.4——
About these categories

The FBI publishes city totals by family, not a full breakdown by offence, so homicide is the only type Charleston Police Department reports separately here. Red means more than before, green means fewer. “Not yet” means the site does not have that month from a year earlier.

Month by month

Jun 2023 to Sep 2026

Violent crime per month

Homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, reported per month

Violent crimes by month
MonthViolent crimes
Jun 202335
Jul 202334
Aug 202325
Sep 202322
Oct 202325
Nov 202319
Dec 202319
Feb 202422
Mar 202427
Apr 202434
May 202433
Jun 202432
Aug 202429
Sep 202423
Nov 202430
Dec 202421
Jan 202512
Feb 202525
Mar 202524
May 202530
Jun 202526
Jul 202523
Aug 202550
Sep 202524
Oct 202522
Nov 202522
Dec 202516
Jan 202622
Feb 202615
Mar 202619
Apr 202625
May 202627
Jun 202619
Jul 202623
Aug 202621
Sep 202630

Homicides per month

Reported per month

Homicides by month
MonthHomicides
Jun 20231
Jul 20230
Aug 20230
Sep 20230
Oct 20230
Nov 20230
Dec 20233
Feb 20240
Mar 20240
Apr 20240
May 20241
Jun 20242
Aug 20241
Sep 20242
Nov 20240
Dec 20240
Jan 20251
Feb 20250
Mar 20250
May 20250
Jun 20250
Jul 20251
Aug 20250
Sep 20250
Oct 20250
Nov 20250
Dec 20251
Jan 20260
Feb 20260
Mar 20260
Apr 20260
May 20261
Jun 20260
Jul 20260
Aug 20260
Sep 20260
Every month since Jun 2023
Reported crime per month in Charleston, WV
MonthViolentPropertyHomicides
Sep 2026301690
Aug 2026211350
Jul 2026231660
Jun 2026191450
May 2026271371
Apr 2026251520
Mar 2026191610
Feb 202615940
Jan 2026221360
Dec 2025161011
Nov 2025221400
Oct 2025221500
Sep 2025241780
Aug 2025502110
Jul 2025231851
Jun 2025262220
May 2025301940
Mar 2025241460
Feb 2025251030
Jan 2025121181
Dec 2024211500
Nov 2024301490
Sep 2024231792
Aug 2024292061
Jun 2024321462
May 2024331841
Apr 2024341350
Mar 2024271710
Feb 2024221360
Dec 2023191433
Nov 2023191410
Oct 2023251420
Sep 2023221300
Aug 2023251620
Jul 2023341740
Jun 2023351521

How Charleston compares

per 100k, per year

Similar size

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to
82Charleston, WV5683,66945,958Sep 2026
101Fort Pierce, FL5001,33951,623Aug 2026
128Twin Falls, ID4001,00456,494Sep 2026
139Burlington, VT3792,29744,354Oct 2026
182Coeur d'Alene, ID29767457,973Sep 2026
215Gallatin County, MT (Sheriff)22962052,755Aug 2026
224Southaven, MS2201,38958,174Sep 2026
227Monroe County, FL (Sheriff)21542153,422Aug 2026
246Raleigh County, WV (Sheriff)15880053,245Aug 2026
291Harrison County, MS (Sheriff)791,05855,596Jul 2026

The 10 places closest to Charleston in population, Charleston included, highest violent crime rate first.

Same state

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to
82Charleston, WV5683,66945,958Sep 2026
117Kanawha County, WV (Sheriff)4331,28783,074Jul 2026
246Raleigh County, WV (Sheriff)15880053,245Aug 2026
295Monongalia County, WV (Sheriff)7118771,554Jul 2026

All 4 places in West Virginia on this site, highest violent crime rate first.

Nearby

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to
9Dayton, OH1,2544,065136,047Aug 2026
32Cincinnati, OH8353,468316,260Sep 2026
50Winston-Salem, NC7252,821257,431Jun 2026
82Charleston, WV5683,66945,958Sep 2026
112Pittsburgh, PA4692,297306,794Mar 2026
117Kanawha County, WV (Sheriff)4331,28783,074Jul 2026
153Columbus, OH3552,374940,106Aug 2026
226Lexington, KY2162,035330,994Jul 2026
246Raleigh County, WV (Sheriff)15880053,245Aug 2026
295Monongalia County, WV (Sheriff)7118771,554Jul 2026

The 9 places on this site closest to Charleston by distance, highest violent crime rate first.

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to

Figures are what each agency reports to the FBI, over the last 12 months it has reported in full, so the months differ. See all 302 cities and county areas in the rankings

Compare Charleston side by side with Burlington, Fort Pierce or Twin Falls, or with any other place.

Other cities and county areas in West Virginia

3 pages, closest first

West Virginia as a whole has 260 violent crimes per 100,000 residents per year, as reported to the FBI over the 12 months to Jun 2026; Charleston’s rate is 119% above the state’s.

Kanawha County (Sheriff)Raleigh County (Sheriff)Monongalia County (Sheriff)

All 4 places in West Virginia

Common questions

answered with the data above
Is Charleston safe?

By reported violent crime, Charleston is well above the average of the 302 cities and county areas on this site: 568 violent crimes per 100,000 residents per year over the 12 months to September 2026. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood, so the citywide figure is only a starting point.

Is there a crime map for Charleston?

This site does not have one for Charleston. The figures on this page come from the FBI, which receives city totals rather than locations, so CurrentCrimeMap shows how Charleston compares with nearby places such as Raleigh County, WV (Sheriff) instead of a street-level map.

What is the crime rate in Charleston?

568 violent and 3,669 property crimes per 100,000 residents per year, based on 1,947 incidents reported to Charleston Police Department over the 12 months to September 2026.

Is crime in Charleston going up or down?

Charleston has 41 months of data on this site so far, not enough for a year-over-year comparison. In September 2026, violent crime was unchanged versus the previous month.

How many homicides has Charleston had in 2026?

Charleston Police Department reported 1 homicide from January to September 2026, the latest month it has reported in full. Over the 12 months to Sep 2026 the count was 2, or 4 per 100,000 residents.

Where does the data come from?

From Charleston Police Department, via FBI Crime Data Explorer (dataset WV0200200). We count reported incidents by month and offense type and divide by the Census population. Reported crime undercounts actual crime; see the methodology page for what the numbers leave out.

Moving to or visiting Charleston

12 months to September 2026

What these numbers leave out: most crime never reaches the police. In the federal victim survey (BJS, 2024), about half of violent crimes and less than a third of property crimes were reported, and only a quarter of everyday thefts. Rates are per resident, so busy downtowns and tourist areas look worse than they are for the people who visit them.

The official source is FBI Crime Data Explorer. For what to look for, and what not to read into a rate, see how to read US crime numbers.

Source and dates

WV0200200
Source
Charleston Police Department, via FBI Crime Data Explorer (dataset WV0200200)
Latest complete month
September 2026
History on this site
June 2023 to September 2026 (41 months)
Update schedule
Charleston Police Department reports monthly to the FBI under the national NIBRS standard. We refresh every morning and publish the most recent 12 months the agency has reported in full.
Download
Monthly counts by offense (JSON)