Photo: The Heliotype Co. Ltd.: Publisher · Public domainFor recorded crime, Lacombe sits in the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 61.7 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 66. Weighing it all, Lacombe earns B− for safety (#24 of 474 in Alberta), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Out of every 1,000 residents, 9.2 violent incidents and 26.1 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.0 and 30.5 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.
What stands out about safety in Lacombe
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Lacombe records 2.2 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Lacombe scores 47.6 for violence and 67.8 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 89.4 and 56. By type ↓
Under the Alberta norm
The typical Alberta town scores 110; Lacombe, 61.7. Towns its size ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Lacombe comes 26th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Lacombe’s grade
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: #24 of 474 in Alberta and #924 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Lacombe, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Lacombe runs highest on drug offences (2.2 per 1,000 against 0.8), mischief (6.7 per 1,000 against 3.7) and fraud (6.1 per 1,000 against 5.1). Motor vehicle theft and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7 | 0.5 | 43% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 35.7 | 2.5 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 11.7 | 0.8 | 45% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 22 | 1.5 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8.7 | 0.6 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 110.3 | 7.6 | 16% |
| Mischief | 97.3 | 6.7 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 16.3 | 1.1 | 90% |
| Administration of justice violations | 30 | 2.1 | 80% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11.3 | 0.8 | 56% |
| Drug violations | 32.7 | 2.2 | 82% |
| Impaired driving | 23 | 1.6 | 74% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Lacombe is 26th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiny Ontario | 14,195 | 27.9 | 36.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 18 | High River Alberta | 15,508 | 50.5 | 56.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Mountain View County Alberta | 14,802 | 54.8 | 78.3 | B |
| 24 | Gaspé Quebec | 15,479 | 57.9 | 106.1 | B |
| 25 | Carleton Place Ontario | 14,837 | 61.2 | 94.7 | B− |
| 26 | Lacombe Alberta | 14,733 | 61.7 | 47.6 | B− |
| 27 | Gravenhurst Ontario | 14,576 | 65.4 | 90.3 | B− |
| 28 | Colchester County, Subdivision C Nova Scotia | 14,211 | 72.9 | 100.8 | C+ |
| 29 | Mont-Laurier Quebec | 14,598 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 38 | La Crète Alberta | 14,488 | 113.5 | 218.8 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | North Battleford Saskatchewan | 14,882 | 528.4 | 591.9 | 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 Lacombe in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
From 2023 to 2025, Lacombe’s index held steady
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (63); 2024 was the lightest, at 59.8. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lacombe | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 59.8 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 63 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Lacombe, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 130 violent incidents a year reached Lacombe’s police, 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 380 a year and other violations 220 (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 Lacombe
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lacombe | 14,733 | 61.7 | 47.6 | B− |
| Lacombe County | 11,072 | 94.9 | 66.9 | C− |
| Blackfalds | 12,258 | 50.8 | 49.1 | B+ |
1 of the 2 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Lacombe. Blackfalds, 10.6 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 50.8 to 61.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- Solved cases. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- How serious, not how safe. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Lacombe
Is Lacombe safe?
Lacombe’s Crime Severity Index is 61.7 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 9.2 violent incidents and 26.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. For Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the typical index is 66.
What is the most common crime in Lacombe?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 8.8, theft under $5,000 at 7.6 and mischief at 6.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Lacombe?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 63 to 62.2.
How much of Lacombe’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 38% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (33% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 47% of violent and 35% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
They are Lacombe’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).