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Best Columbia, South Carolina Home Security & Alarm Companies 2023

Here's what we found when we analyzed home security providers and crime data in Columbia

Recommended Home Security Providers in Columbia

Best Customer Service
  • Pro. Install
  • Recommended to protect against fire threats
  • Recommended in Regions with High Violent Crime
  • Plans with Video Cameras
Best DIY Install
  • DIY Install
  • Recommended in Regions with High Property Crime
  • Known for quick response time
  • Ideal for Renters
Best for Home Owners
  • No-Contract
  • High-quality Wireless Install
  • Ideal for Home Owners
  • High-quality Professional Install

Our Analysis of Safety in Columbia

The amount of criminal activity in Columbia is significantly high, with 60.33 crimes for every one thousand residents. When measured against other cities across the U.S., Columbia places in the 88th percentile for highest crime statistics.

The majority of crime is property crime, including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In Columbia, homicide offenses are the most persistent incidents against individuals. arson is the city’s most numerous property crime.

Property crimes are quitehigh in Columbia. 55.01 property crimes transpire for every one thousand citizens annually, placing the city in the 76th percentile. The city’s moderatelyabove average property crime is strikingly irregular when compared to South Carolina — and the United States as a whole. Columbia is more under threat from property-related offenses than 102% of South Carolina counties and 143% of counties in the country.

Columbia experiences fairlyabove average person crime — the city places in the 71st percentile for incidents against individuals. For every one thousand residents, there are about 5.32 crimes against persons. In particular, Columbia's rates are remarkably assymetric to crime levels in the state of South Carolina; they do, however, not diverge significantly from national crime rates. Columbia's moderatelyabove average person-related crime rates are reflective of those throughout the state of South Carolina and with estimates across the nation.

Despite very high crime levels, Columbia upholds a comparably standard law enforcement presence. Columbia has a moderate officer-to-civilian ratio, with 2.86 officers per 1,000 residents. That's one officer to protect 350 inhabitants.

Beyond crimes per capita, crimes per hour is an additional barometer of safety. Columbia has very high crime frequency, with 0.93 offenses taking place every hour. A crime occurs every 65 minutes in Columbia. Specifically, a property incident occurs every 71 minutes and incidents against individuals occur approximately once every 12 hours.

Data sourced from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, 2017 (last available dataset)
134,957
Arson
2.86
Median Percentile
0.929
Top 20% Percentile
55.01
Top 20% Percentile
5.32
Top 20% Percentile

Best Choice for Accessible Customer Support

For Columbia, SC residents, we recommend ADT because of their customer service. ADT treats their customers with utmost regard, provides accessible customer support, and has customer-friendly policies

Of course, before making this recommendation, we also looked at other factors. The company's pricing as well as features also made a huge impact to our decision-making. Of all the companies offering service in Columbia, SC, ADT is one of the few ones that offer inexpensive solutions but high-quality equipment and services. Because ADT provides their customers a high level of protection from the most common dangers in Columbia, SC also helped them get our approval.

You can learn more about ADT in our ADT in-depth review or read about their pricing and deals here.

Best Choice for Self-Installation Options

In speaking with Columbia, SC residents, we've found that many prefer DIY installed security systems over systems that require professional installation. This isn't surprising because consumers nowadays want flexibility and expandability, which are exactly what self-installed systems offer. But with all the companies offering DIY installed security systems, how do you choose the best one for you?

One of the problems with self-installed systems is that it's up to you to troubleshoot installation hiccups you might come across with. However, a good company backs their products with high-quality customer support. With that being said, we recommend Brinks as the best self-installed security systems provider in Columbia, SC. Not only does Brinks have an accessible customer support, they also provide instruction videos, extremely helpful articles, and other online resources to help their customers set up their security systems.

To order products, simply visit their website.

Recommended for Home Owners

For homeowners in Columbia, SC we recommend Simplisafe as a solid solution for most situations. We make this recommendation after analyzing the crime statistics in Columbia, SC paired with an analysis of the different product offerings across the all of the companies we’ve found offering home security service in the Columbia, SC area.

Based on this analysis, we believe that Simplisafe is frequently the right choice for most consumers as its combination of features and monthly price is appealing.

Usually customers who choose Simplisafe should contact their home insurance company to see if can receive a discount by having professionally monitored home security service.

For full details on why we recommend Simplisafe, you can read our full Simplisafe review here.

Columbia Home Security Providers

Here is a complete list of providers available in Columbia:
ProviderHAR ScoreWebsiteInstall TypePhoneMonitoring TypeBusiness Service
Frontpoint8.7www.frontpointsecurity.comDIY(833) 606-4477ProfessionalYes
ADT9.4www.adt.comProfessional(844) 741-8968ProfessionalYes
Alder7.2www.alder.comDIY(866) 717-8611ProfessionalNo
Link Interactive8.5www.linkinteractive.comDIY(877) 826-5443ProfessionalNo
Brinks7.5brinkshome.comProfessional or DIY(866) 305-6806ProfessionalYes
Ring9.5ring.comDIY(800) 656-1918Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Protect America7.8www.protectamerica.comDIY(800) 951-5111ProfessionalYes
Simplisafe8.5simplisafe.comProfessional or DIY(800) 297-1605Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Vivint7.8www.vivint.comProfessional(801) 377-9111ProfessionalNo
abode7.5goabode.comProfessional or DIY(650) 443-7834Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Xfinity Home Security8www.xfinity.comProfessional(877) 591-2503ProfessionalYes
Lifeshield7.5www.lifeshield.comProfessional or DIY(877) 632-7657ProfessionalNo
Swann7www.swann.com/usDIY(562) 906-3983Self-MonitoredNo
Fortress Security7.5www.fortresssecuritystore.comDIY(206) 981-5371Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
iSmartAlarm7www.ismartalarm.comDIY(408) 245-2551Self-MonitoredNo
My Alarm Center7.5myalarmcenter.comProfessional(855) 334-6562ProfessionalYes
Ooma8www.ooma.comDIY(888) 711-6662Self-MonitoredNo
LivSecure7.8www.livsecure.comDIY(844) 349-7233ProfessionalNo
Alarm Grid8.5www.alarmgrid.comDIY(888) 818-7728Professional or Self-MonitoredYes
Cove8.3www.covesmart.comDIY(855) 268-3669Professional or Self-MonitoredYes
Protection One7.3www.protection1.comProfessional(877) 776-1911ProfessionalYes
Canary8.5canary.isDIYSelf-MonitoredNo
Centurylink7.5www.centurylink.comProfessional(888) 723-8010ProfessionalYes
AT&T Digital Life7.8my-digitallife.att.comProfessional(855) 288-2727ProfessionalNo
Scout Alarm7.3www.scoutalarm.comDIY(844) 287-2688Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Uxari7.8uxari.comDIY(877) 877-9788ProfessionalNo
GetSafe8getsafe.comDIY(888) 799-6255ProfessionalNo
Alarm Relay8www.alarmrelay.comDIY(800) 624-6866ProfessionalNo
CPI Security7cpisecurity.comProfessional(855) 274-0208ProfessionalYes