Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0For recorded crime, Ponoka County sits in the middle of Canadian towns
In 2023 the index stood at 65.4; it fell to 58.8 in 2025. For solved cases, the weighted rate is 23%, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Ponoka County’s overall Safety Grade is B− (#185 of 474 in Alberta): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, its police logs show 7.2 violent incidents and 30.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.0 and 30.5.
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 Ponoka detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Ponoka County
Mischief: high for a town its size
Ponoka County records 8 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
Ponoka County’s index splits into violent crime, 54.5 here and 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 73.4 against 56. By type ↓
Lower than most of Alberta
Ponoka County’s index of 67.6 compares with 110 for the typical town in Alberta. Towns its size ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Ponoka County places 23rd from the lowest 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 Ponoka 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: #185 of 474 in Alberta and #1,304 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 Ponoka County, by type
Against the typical town its size, Ponoka County runs highest on mischief (8 per 1,000 against 3.7), break and enter (4.3 per 1,000 against 2.2) and motor vehicle theft (4 per 1,000 against 2.4). 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 | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 27.7 | 4.3 | 16% |
| Possession of stolen property | 20.7 | 3.2 | 26% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 26 | 4 | 4% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8 | 1.2 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 33.7 | 5.2 | 3% |
| Mischief | 52.3 | 8 | 11% |
| Weapons violations | 2.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 7.7 | 1.2 | 65% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5 | 0.8 | 26% |
| Drug violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Impaired driving | 28.7 | 4.4 | 64% |
| 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Ponoka County, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 78.6; 2025 was lightest, at 58.8. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Ponoka County | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 58.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 78.6 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 65.4 | 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 Ponoka County, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Ponoka County places 23rd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 20 | East St. Paul Manitoba | 10,321 | 58.8 | 39.1 | B |
| 21 | West St. Paul Manitoba | 10,796 | 64.4 | 49.4 | B− |
| 22 | Morinville Alberta | 10,763 | 66.4 | 81.6 | B− |
| 23 | Ponoka County Alberta | 10,670 | 67.6 | 54.5 | B− |
| 24 | Farnham Quebec | 11,315 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 25 | Saint-Félicien Quebec | 10,143 | 73.3 | 114.4 | C+ |
| 26 | Liverpool Nova Scotia | 10,997 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Taber Alberta | 10,175 | 84.8 | 74.7 | C |
| 29 | Lacombe County Alberta | 11,072 | 94.9 | 66.9 | C− |
| 30 | Lethbridge County Alberta | 10,988 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Yellowhead County Alberta | 10,966 | 120 | 99.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Wheatland County Alberta | 10,150 | 298.8 | 486.4 | 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 Ponoka County in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 47 violent incidents a year in the 6,570-resident police area around Ponoka 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.
And about 200 property crimes, plus 76 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 Ponoka County
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponoka County | 10,670 | 67.6 | 54.5 | B− |
| Bentley (22 km) | 1,153 | 67.3 | 43.3 | B− |
| Rimbey (22 km) | 2,502 | 110.1 | 69.4 | C− |
| Lacombe (22 km) | 14,733 | 61.7 | 47.6 | B− |
| Ponoka (23 km) | 8,212 | 170.5 | 210.6 | D |
| Lacombe County (23 km) | 11,072 | 94.9 | 66.9 | C− |
Of 5 places nearby with their own figures, 2 come in under Ponoka County. Closest is Bentley, 21.6 km away, at 67.3 to 67.6 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 22–23 km from Ponoka County.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Shared with the countryside. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Ponoka County’s are shared with its surroundings.
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Ponoka County
Is Ponoka County safe?
Ponoka County measures 67.6 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 7.2 violent incidents and 30 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Ponoka County?
Top of the list is mischief (8 per 1,000 residents a year); Criminal Code traffic offences, at 6.7, and theft under $5,000, at 5.2, follow.
Is crime going up in Ponoka County?
The reverse: 65.4 in 2023 came down to 58.8 by 2025, 10% lower.
How much of Ponoka County’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 38% of violent crime and 18% of everything else, 23% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Ponoka 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).