Photo: Saddle Hills County · CC BY-SA 4.0Saddle Hills County records more crime per resident than four in five Canadian towns
From 2023 to 2025 its Crime Severity Index stayed steady, 104.4 then 101.3. Measured on crime the police covering Saddle Hills County reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of C−. Per 1,000 residents a year, 11.3 violent incidents and 52.7 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Even so, on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, the 2023–2025 average is 104.7, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ sits at 67.2.
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 Spirit River detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Saddle Hills County
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Saddle Hills County records 7.4 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.5 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Saddle Hills County scores 66.8 for violence and 120.7 for other crime; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ scores 86.4 and 62.8. By type ↓
Less crime solved
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 23% for Saddle Hills County (61% violent, 15% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Close to Alberta’s typical town
Within Alberta, the median town comes to 110 on the index, against 104.7 in Saddle Hills County. 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 C− for Saddle Hills County, and how it is built
How sure: A less certain grade than most, because the figures belong to the nearest detachment, 36 km from Saddle Hills County, not to the town.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Crime in Saddle Hills County, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Saddle Hills County runs highest on break and enter (7.4 per 1,000 against 2.5), mischief (12 per 1,000 against 4.2) and motor vehicle theft (5 per 1,000 against 2.4). Fraud 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 | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 42 | 7.4 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 18 | 3.2 | 26% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 28.3 | 5 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 46.3 | 8.2 | 1% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 73.7 | 13 | 7% |
| Mischief | 67.7 | 12 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 14 | 2.5 | 66% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Impaired driving | 4.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
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 people or more.
About 64 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest Saddle Hills County (5,600 residents), 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 300 property crimes, plus 43 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Saddle Hills County, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 108.3 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 101.3 in 2025. The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Saddle Hills County | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 101.3 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 108.3 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 104.4 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Saddle Hills County, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Saddle Hills County
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saddle Hills County | 2,449 | 104.7 | 66.8 | C− |
| Dawson Creek (51 km) | 13,635 | 213.1 | 300.4 | D |
| Clear Hills (57 km) | 3,110 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| Electoral Area D, Peace River (57 km) | 5,100 | 107.6 | 157.4 | C− |
| Fairview (71 km) | 2,918 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| Fairview No. 136 (75 km) | 1,647 | 96 | 62 | C− |
3 of the 5 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Saddle Hills County. Closest is Clear Hills, 57.2 km away, at 96 to 104.7 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 51–75 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Saddle Hills County.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- 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.”
- The index’s scale. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
Questions about safety in Saddle Hills County
Is Saddle Hills County safe?
Police-reported crime in Saddle Hills County scores 104.7 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 11.3 violent incidents and 52.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Saddle Hills County?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 13 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come mischief at 12 and break and enter at 7.4.
Is crime going up in Saddle Hills County?
Barely: 104.4 in 2023, 101.3 in 2025.
How much of Saddle Hills County’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 61% of violent crime and 15% of everything else, 23% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Saddle Hills County and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).