Photo: Rural Health Professions Action Plan from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada · CC BY 2.0Crime per resident in Three Hills runs higher than in 83% of Canadian towns
The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 110.8 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Three Hills reported put it at C− for safety: #422 of 474 in Alberta. Annual rates stand at 19.6 violent incidents and 36.4 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 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: the Three Hills detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Three Hills
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Three Hills records 8.5 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Less severe than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Three Hills stood at 144.6, by 2025 at 80.4. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Three Hills is 35th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Below-typical clearance
Weighted by seriousness, 21% of crime in Three Hills ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 41% of violent crime and 14% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
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 Three Hills’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: #422 of 474 in Alberta and #2,208 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Three Hills’s index dropped 44%
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (144.6); 2025 was the lightest, at 80.4. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Three Hills | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 80.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 107.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 144.6 | 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 Three Hills, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Three Hills’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Three Hills runs highest on drug offences (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.7), break and enter (8.5 per 1,000 against 2.8) and mischief (7.2 per 1,000 against 4.9). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 78.3 | 8.5 | 11% |
| Possession of stolen property | 26.7 | 2.9 | 12% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 22.3 | 2.4 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7.3 | 0.8 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 69 | 7.5 | 7% |
| Mischief | 66.7 | 7.2 | 9% |
| Weapons violations | 7.3 | 0.8 | 37% |
| Administration of justice violations | 72.7 | 7.8 | 72% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 29 | 3.1 | 16% |
| Drug violations | 21.3 | 2.3 | 14% |
| Impaired driving | 54 | 5.8 | 36% |
| 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.
Three Hills comes 35th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Quebec | 3,400 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Cumberland County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 3,401 | 93.1 | 86.7 | C− |
| 33 | Timiskaming, Unorganized, West Part Ontario | 3,606 | 97.4 | 171.6 | C− |
| 34 | Malartic Quebec | 3,506 | 103.6 | 183.5 | C− |
| 35 | Three Hills Alberta | 3,502 | 110.8 | 105.9 | C− |
| 36 | Mackenzie British Columbia | 3,442 | 157.5 | 248.1 | D |
| 37 | Bifrost-Riverton Manitoba | 3,518 | 307.1 | 431.5 | D− |
| 38 | Prince Albert No. 461 Saskatchewan | 3,589 | 332.1 | 425.8 | D− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Opportunity No. 17 Alberta | 3,592 | 495.1 | 602.4 | 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 Three Hills in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 180 violent incidents a year in the 9,430-resident police area around Three Hills, 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 340 property crimes and 230 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Three Hills
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Hills | 3,502 | 110.8 | 105.9 | C− |
| Kneehill County | 5,129 | 110.8 | 105.9 | C− |
| Trochu | 1,191 | 110.8 | 105.9 | C− |
The comparison skips 2 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A detachment’s area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Three Hills’s are shared with its surroundings.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Three Hills
Is Three Hills safe?
Three Hills scores 110.8 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5; per 1,000 residents a year that is 19.6 violent incidents and 36.4 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Three Hills?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 13.8 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of break and enter (8.5) and assault (7.9).
Is crime going up in Three Hills?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 44%, to 80.4 from 144.6.
How much of Three Hills’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 21%: 41% for violent crime and 14% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Three Hills 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).