Photo: Tiado · CC BY-SA 3.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Cardston County than in 81% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 123.7 and its non-violent half to 102.7, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. That puts it at C− for safety, judged on crime the police covering Cardston County reported from 2023 to 2025: #226 of 474 in Alberta. Police counts work out at 24.9 violent incidents and 48.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the Cardston detachment area).
What stands out about safety in Cardston County
Mischief: high for a town its size
Cardston County records 25.4 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Cardston County stands 35th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Easing since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Cardston County moved from 115.4 to 95.1, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
More crime solved
Police cleared 46% of Cardston County’s crime, weighted by seriousness (55% of violent crime, 41% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Cardston County’s C− for safety
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #226 of 474 in Alberta and #1,996 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Cardston County’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Cardston County runs highest on mischief (25.4 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (2.6 per 1,000 against 0.7) and assault (13.6 per 1,000 against 6.7). Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 6.3 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 25 | 3.4 | 32% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.3 | 0.7 | 32% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 14.3 | 1.9 | 33% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 74 | 10 | 28% |
| Mischief | 187.7 | 25.4 | 31% |
| Weapons violations | 6.3 | 0.9 | 79% |
| Administration of justice violations | 250 | 33.8 | 96% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.4 | 44% |
| Drug violations | 19 | 2.6 | 42% |
| Impaired driving | 25.7 | 3.5 | 65% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
By its index, Cardston County stands 35th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Valley Ontario | 4,759 | 26.4 | 20.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Barrhead Alberta | 4,768 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Central Okanagan British Columbia | 4,784 | 106.7 | 102.5 | C− |
| 33 | Electoral Area D, Peace River British Columbia | 5,100 | 107.6 | 157.4 | C− |
| 34 | Carbonear Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,041 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| 35 | Cardston County Alberta | 4,938 | 108 | 123.7 | C− |
| 36 | Woodlands County Alberta | 4,778 | 120.9 | 106.4 | D |
| 37 | Tyendinaga Ontario | 5,005 | 131.9 | 280.3 | D |
| 38 | St. Stephen New Brunswick | 4,876 | 143.6 | 115 | D |
| 39 | Big Lakes County Alberta | 5,106 | 167.3 | 179 | D |
| 40 | Nipawin Saskatchewan | 5,033 | 182.3 | 163.9 | D |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Cardston County in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
In Cardston County, down 18% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 115.4; the lightest was 2025, at 95.1. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cardston County | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 95.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 113.6 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 115.4 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Cardston County, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 180 violent incidents a year across the police area of 7,410 residents that includes Cardston County, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Property crime adds about 360 a year and other violations 410 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Cardston County
Same police, same number: one neighbour drops out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A wider policing area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Cardston County’s are shared with its surroundings.
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Cardston County
Is Cardston County safe?
Police-reported crime in Cardston County scores 108 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 24.9 violent incidents and 48 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Cardston County?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 47.1 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (25.4) and assault (13.6).
Is crime going up in Cardston County?
The reverse: 115.4 in 2023 came down to 95.1 by 2025, 18% lower.
How much of Cardston County’s crime do police solve?
46%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 55% and non-violent crime at 41%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Cardston County and everywhere else it polices.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).