Photo: Tiado · CC BY-SA 3.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Claresholm than in 75% of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 91.1 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5. Add to that, in 2023 the index stood at 83.9; it rose to 90 in 2025. Its letter for safety is C, worked out from crime the police covering Claresholm reported over 2023 to 2025: #211 of 474 in Alberta. Behind the grade sit 13.9 violent incidents and 48.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size.
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. Shared with the rest of the Claresholm detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Claresholm
Mischief: high for a town its size
Claresholm records 15.4 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 ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Violent crime scores 68.1 on Claresholm’s index against 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 101 against 62.8. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Claresholm stands 30th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
Weighted by seriousness, 21% of crime in Claresholm ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 40% of violent crime and 16% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Claresholm: C for safety, and why
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: #211 of 474 in Alberta and #1,821 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.
Which crimes make up Claresholm’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Claresholm runs highest on mischief (15.4 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (6.3 per 1,000 against 2.8) and fraud (9.4 per 1,000 against 4.9). Assault 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 | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 42.3 | 6.3 | 11% |
| Possession of stolen property | 14.3 | 2.1 | 14% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 17.7 | 2.6 | 7% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.3 | 0.9 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 74 | 11 | 9% |
| Mischief | 103.7 | 15.4 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 0.7 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 17.3 | 2.6 | 68% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.7 | 1.3 | 31% |
| Drug violations | 4.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Impaired driving | 17 | 2.5 | 61% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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.
Claresholm is 30th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake of Bays Ontario | 4,105 | 32.8 | 34.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast British Columbia | 4,279 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| 28 | Victoria County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 4,258 | 82.8 | 120.7 | C |
| 29 | Oka Quebec | 4,312 | 83 | 129.3 | C |
| 30 | Claresholm Alberta | 4,242 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| 31 | Prescott Ontario | 4,342 | 111.5 | 167.1 | C− |
| 32 | Napierville Quebec | 4,187 | 116.5 | 80.3 | C− |
| 33 | Stellarton Nova Scotia | 4,251 | 116.6 | 97.1 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Northern Lights County Alberta | 4,115 | 119.8 | 132.1 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 38 | Vermilion Alberta | 4,192 | 142.6 | 129.6 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Fort Nelson British Columbia | 4,144 | 263.7 | 376.9 | 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 Claresholm in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Claresholm is part of, 6,900 residents, recorded about 94 violent incidents a year (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.
Add about 320 property crimes and 110 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Claresholm, year by year
Crime Severity Index
At 99.4, 2024 topped the three years, and 2023 was lowest at 83.9. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Claresholm | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 99.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 83.9 | 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 Claresholm, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Claresholm
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claresholm | 4,242 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| Willow Creek No. 26 (10 km) | 6,225 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| Fort Macleod (36 km) | 3,945 | 96.7 | 83.9 | C− |
| Nanton (38 km) | 2,522 | 63.7 | 46 | B− |
| Nobleford (42 km) | 1,694 | 35.7 | 34 | A |
| Vulcan (48 km) | 1,922 | 64.3 | 54 | B− |
Claresholm sits above 3 of the 4 neighbours with figures of their own. Closest is Nanton, 38 km away, at 63.7 to 91.1 here. The table leaves out one neighbour whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 10–48 km from Claresholm.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- What clearance means. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- An index, not a verdict. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Shared with the countryside. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Claresholm together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Claresholm
Is Claresholm safe?
Its police recorded 13.9 violent incidents and 48.2 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Claresholm a Crime Severity Index of 91.1. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Claresholm?
Police record mischief most, 15.4 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (11.5) and theft under $5,000 (11).
Is crime going up in Claresholm?
Yes: the index rose 7%, from 83.9 in 2023 to 90 in 2025.
How much of Claresholm’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 21% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 40% of violent crime and 16% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Claresholm 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).