Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainCrime per resident in Lethbridge County runs higher than in 77% of Canadian towns
The Safety Grade comes out at C−, drawn from crime the police covering Lethbridge County reported through 2023 to 2025: #217 of 474 in Alberta. Its weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solved, is 26% (the typical Canadian town its size: 33%). Add to that, a Crime Severity Index of 96, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 66 for the typical Canadian town its size. The yearly rates were 13.2 violent incidents and 44.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set 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. Shared with the rest of the Fairview detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Lethbridge County
Mischief: high for a town its size
Lethbridge County records 14.2 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Lethbridge County’s index splits into violent crime, 62 here and 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 110.5 against 56. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Lethbridge County places 31st from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
About the Alberta norm
Lethbridge County’s index of 96 compares with 110 for the typical town in Alberta. 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 Lethbridge County’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: #217 of 474 in Alberta and #1,910 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.
What police record in Lethbridge County, by type
Against the typical town its size, Lethbridge County runs highest on mischief (14.2 per 1,000 against 3.7), break and enter (8.2 per 1,000 against 2.2) and drug offences (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.8). Theft under $5,000 and sexual assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 65.7 | 8.2 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 16.7 | 2.1 | 20% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 30.7 | 3.8 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.7 | 1.2 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 68.7 | 8.6 | 11% |
| Mischief | 113.7 | 14.2 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 4.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 35 | 4.4 | 60% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.3 | 16% |
| Drug violations | 11 | 1.4 | 39% |
| Impaired driving | 20.7 | 2.6 | 66% |
| 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Lethbridge County comes 31st of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drayton Ontario | 11,518 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Banff Alberta | 11,402 | 63 | 74.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Morinville Alberta | 10,763 | 66.4 | 81.6 | B− |
| 26 | Ponoka County Alberta | 10,670 | 67.6 | 54.5 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Liverpool Nova Scotia | 10,997 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| 29 | Hawkesbury Ontario | 11,451 | 92.7 | 131.7 | C |
| 30 | Lacombe County Alberta | 11,072 | 94.9 | 66.9 | C− |
| 31 | Lethbridge County Alberta | 10,988 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| 32 | Estevan Saskatchewan | 11,391 | 103.1 | 136.2 | C− |
| 33 | Smiths Falls Ontario | 11,093 | 105.1 | 147.6 | C− |
| 34 | La Tuque Quebec | 11,309 | 106.1 | 199 | C− |
| 35 | Yellowhead County Alberta | 10,966 | 120 | 99.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Williams Lake British Columbia | 11,462 | 248.9 | 248.6 | 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 Lethbridge County in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
In Lethbridge County, down 11% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 101, against a low of 90.1 in 2025. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lethbridge County | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90.1 | 60 |
| 2024 | 97 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 101 | 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 Lethbridge County, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
8,040 residents, about 110 violent incidents a year: the police area Lethbridge County belongs to, 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.
And about 350 property crimes, plus 130 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Lethbridge County
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lethbridge County | 10,988 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| Picture Butte | 2,380 | 35.7 | 34 | A |
| Coalhurst | 3,244 | 35.7 | 34 | A |
| Lethbridge | 113,671 | 128.5 | 142 | D |
| Coaldale | 9,644 | 57.1 | 45.1 | B |
| Nobleford | 1,694 | 35.7 | 34 | A |
Of 5 places nearby with their own figures, 4 come in under Lethbridge County. Picture Butte, 3.8 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 35.7 to 96.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Town and surroundings together. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Lethbridge County together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- Reading the number. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- Solved cases. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
Questions about safety in Lethbridge County
Is Lethbridge County safe?
The short answer is an index of 96 for Lethbridge County (2023–2025), built from 13.2 violent incidents and 44.3 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Lethbridge County?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 14.2, other Criminal Code offences at 10.1 and theft under $5,000 at 8.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Lethbridge County?
Down 11%: 101 in 2023, 90.1 in 2025.
How much of Lethbridge County’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 26% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 56% of violent crime and 19% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Lethbridge County together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).