Photo: Authentic Alberta · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime in Nanton sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 63.7 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Overall, it grades B− for safety (#27 of 474 in Alberta). Behind the grade sit 10.8 violent incidents and 29.7 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the Nanton detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Nanton
Lower than most of Alberta
The typical Alberta town scores 110; Nanton, 63.7. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Nanton scores 46 for violence and 71.3 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Nanton comes 22nd, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Fraud: high for a town its size
Nanton records 7.9 incidents of fraud 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 ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: B− for Nanton
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: #27 of 474 in Alberta and #1,000 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.
Crime in Nanton, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Nanton runs highest on fraud (7.9 per 1,000 against 4.9), mischief (7.9 per 1,000 against 4.9) and break and enter (3.5 per 1,000 against 2.8). 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 | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 13.3 | 3.5 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 4.3 | 1.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4.7 | 1.2 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.3 | 0.9 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 27 | 7.1 | 10% |
| Mischief | 30 | 7.9 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 15 | 3.9 | 71% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5.3 | 1.4 | 51% |
| Drug violations | 3.3 | 0.9 | — |
| Impaired driving | 12.7 | 3.3 | 69% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Nanton places 22nd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Magrath Alberta | 2,566 | 36.6 | 46.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 19 | Mandeville Quebec | 2,511 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| 20 | Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel Quebec | 2,599 | 58.7 | 84.9 | B |
| 21 | Lunenburg Nova Scotia | 2,523 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| 22 | Nanton Alberta | 2,522 | 63.7 | 46 | B− |
| 23 | Division No. 7, Subdivision E Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,632 | 64.2 | 58.5 | B− |
| 24 | Esterhazy Saskatchewan | 2,513 | 66.4 | 84.4 | B− |
| 25 | Clearwater British Columbia | 2,500 | 69.5 | 47 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Sexsmith Alberta | 2,561 | 87.3 | 94.5 | C |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Rimbey Alberta | 2,502 | 110.1 | 69.4 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Prairie Alberta | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | 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 Nanton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 41 violent incidents a year in the 3,920-resident police area around Nanton, 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 110 property crimes and 55 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Three years of Nanton’s crime index
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 73.9, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2025, came in at 55. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Nanton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 55 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 73.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 62.2 | 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 Nanton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Nanton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanton | 2,522 | 63.7 | 46 | B− |
| High River (27 km) | 15,508 | 50.5 | 56.6 | B+ |
| Vulcan (37 km) | 1,922 | 64.3 | 54 | B− |
| Claresholm (38 km) | 4,242 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| Vulcan County (43 km) | 4,465 | 64.3 | 54 | B− |
| Okotoks (44 km) | 33,482 | 42.5 | 48.7 | A− |
2 of the 5 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Nanton. Just 27.1 km away, High River comes to 50.5, against 63.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Nanton has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 27–44 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Read with care. With roughly 3,916 residents in its police area, a few cases swing the figures. In Statistics Canada’s words, “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- A wider policing area. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Nanton together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Nanton
Is Nanton safe?
With 10.8 violent incidents and 29.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Nanton comes to 63.7 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Nanton?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 8.3 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (7.9) and fraud (7.9).
Is crime going up in Nanton?
Down 12%: 62.2 in 2023, 55 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Nanton’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 30% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 54% of violent crime and 24% 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 Nanton 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).