Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0Cranbrook sees more crime per resident than nine in ten Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 147.3 and 151.6. About 22% of crime here is cleared by police, set against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size. Measured on crime the police covering Cranbrook reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #226 of 251 in British Columbia. Add to that, in a usual year, 28.1 violent incidents and 63.3 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 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.
What stands out about safety in Cranbrook
Mischief: high for a town its size
Cranbrook records 20.1 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 than British Columbia’s middle
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Cranbrook, 149.5. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Cranbrook comes 37th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Cranbrook’s index splits into violent crime, 147.3 here and 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 151.6 against 56. By type ↓
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 Cranbrook’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: #226 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,458 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 Cranbrook, by type
Against the typical town its size, Cranbrook runs highest on mischief (20.1 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (3.3 per 1,000 against 0.8) and break and enter (5.9 per 1,000 against 2.2).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 14.7 | 0.6 | 34% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 12.3 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 15 | 0.7 | 47% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 10.7 | 0.5 | 47% |
| Breaking and entering | 132.3 | 5.9 | 14% |
| Possession of stolen property | 44.3 | 2 | 29% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 50.3 | 2.2 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 16 | 0.7 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 554.3 | 24.6 | 19% |
| Mischief | 454 | 20.1 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 36.7 | 1.6 | 35% |
| Administration of justice violations | 156 | 6.9 | 63% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 51 | 2.3 | 34% |
| Drug violations | 75 | 3.3 | 17% |
| Impaired driving | 82.3 | 3.6 | 55% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Cranbrook places 37th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
| 2 | Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver British Columbia | 22,031 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Colwood British Columbia | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Pitt Meadows British Columbia | 20,892 | 60.8 | 59.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Salmon Arm British Columbia | 20,891 | 92.4 | 66.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Sept-Îles Quebec | 24,483 | 103.9 | 209.6 | C− |
| 35 | Owen Sound Ontario | 24,075 | 110 | 154.9 | C− |
| 36 | Riverview New Brunswick | 22,614 | 113.1 | 113.3 | C− |
| 37 | Cranbrook British Columbia | 22,703 | 149.5 | 147.3 | D |
| 38 | Fort St. John British Columbia | 24,383 | 200.6 | 214.9 | D |
| 39 | Lloydminster (Part) Alberta | 21,267 | 211.6 | 177.2 | D |
| 40 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 304.6 | 362 | 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 Cranbrook in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 630 violent incidents a year on Cranbrook’s police records (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 1,430 property crimes, plus 820 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
In Cranbrook, down 11% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 157.4, and 2025 the lightest at 139.4. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cranbrook | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 139.4 | 60 |
| 2024 | 151.8 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 157.4 | 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 Cranbrook, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Cranbrook
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook | 22,703 | 149.5 | 147.3 | D |
| Electoral Area C, East Kootenay (4 km) | 7,006 | 56.2 | 70.5 | B |
| Kimberley (24 km) | 9,037 | 45.9 | 44.5 | A− |
| Electoral Area E, East Kootenay (34 km) | 1,881 | 43.4 | 34.1 | A− |
| Electoral Area B, East Kootenay (37 km) | 2,221 | 54.7 | 67.3 | B |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Cranbrook. Electoral Area C, East Kootenay, 4.4 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 56.2 to 149.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 4–37 km from Cranbrook.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Reading the number. 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.
- Solved cases. 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.
Questions about safety in Cranbrook
Is Cranbrook safe?
Against a typical 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Cranbrook’s Crime Severity Index stands at 149.5 for 2023–2025. Its police record 28.1 violent incidents and 63.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Cranbrook?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (28 per 1,000 residents a year); theft under $5,000, at 24.6, and mischief, at 20.1, follow.
Is crime going up in Cranbrook?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 11%, to 139.4 from 157.4.
How much of Cranbrook’s crime do police solve?
About 22% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 38% of violent and 15% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Cranbrook’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).