Photo: jasonwoodhead23 · CC BY 2.0Ponoka has more crime per resident than nine in ten Canadian towns
Scored on crime the police covering Ponoka reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on D for safety: #456 of 474 in Alberta. What’s more, recorded violent incidents ran at 30.5 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 84.1, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Of the two halves, violence comes to 210.6 and other offences to 155.9, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8.
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 Ponoka
Mischief: high for a town its size
Ponoka records 36.7 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 ↓
Less severe than in 2023
From 202.4 in 2023 to 135.8 in 2025: that is Ponoka’s index, against 74.3 and 64.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Ponoka stands 39th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Above Alberta’s typical town
Within Alberta, the median town comes to 110 on the index, against 170.5 in Ponoka. 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.
The D for Ponoka, and how it is built
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: #456 of 474 in Alberta and #2,490 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.
In Ponoka, down 33% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 202.4, and 2025 the lightest at 135.8. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Ponoka | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 135.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 173.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 202.4 | 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 Ponoka, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Ponoka’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Ponoka runs highest on mischief (36.7 per 1,000 against 4.9), motor vehicle theft (7.3 per 1,000 against 2.6) and robbery (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.5).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5.3 | 0.7 | 51% |
| Robbery | 10.7 | 1.3 | 53% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 57.7 | 7.2 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 25.7 | 3.2 | 25% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 59 | 7.3 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.3 | 0.7 | 13% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 151.7 | 18.8 | 10% |
| Mischief | 296.3 | 36.7 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 16.3 | 2 | 47% |
| Administration of justice violations | 96 | 11.9 | 83% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13 | 1.6 | 41% |
| Drug violations | 9.7 | 1.2 | 52% |
| Impaired driving | 40.7 | 5.1 | 64% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
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.
Ponoka is 39th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douro-Dummer Ontario | 8,379 | 14.9 | 13.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Taber Alberta | 8,009 | 29.4 | 30.1 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Vermilion River County Alberta | 8,282 | 96.6 | 62.7 | C− |
| 35 | Drumheller Alberta | 8,439 | 101.2 | 101.9 | C− |
| 36 | Rocky Mountain House Alberta | 8,144 | 140.9 | 159.2 | D |
| 37 | Drayton Valley Alberta | 8,047 | 152.4 | 156.3 | D |
| 38 | Kirkland Lake Ontario | 8,158 | 170.1 | 271.7 | D |
| 39 | Ponoka Alberta | 8,212 | 170.5 | 210.6 | D |
| 40 | Happy Valley-Goose Bay Newfoundland and Labrador | 8,197 | 360 | 345 | 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 in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Ponoka’s police: about 250 violent incidents a year over 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 680 a year and other violations 400 (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 Ponoka
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponoka | 8,212 | 170.5 | 210.6 | D |
| Ponoka County (23 km) | 10,670 | 67.6 | 54.5 | B− |
| Lacombe (25 km) | 14,733 | 61.7 | 47.6 | B− |
| Lacombe County (28 km) | 11,072 | 94.9 | 66.9 | C− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Ponoka. Ponoka County, 22.5 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 67.6 to 170.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Ponoka has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 23–28 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- 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. 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.”
Questions about safety in Ponoka
Is Ponoka safe?
Statistics Canada puts Ponoka at 170.5 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people sit at 68.5 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 30.5 and property crimes at 84.1 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Ponoka?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (40.5 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 36.7, and theft under $5,000, at 18.8, follow.
Is crime going up in Ponoka?
It went down 33% between 2023 and 2025, from 202.4 to 135.8.
How much of Ponoka’s crime do police solve?
32%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 47% and non-violent crime at 26%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Ponoka and nowhere else.
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).