Photo: K29328 · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Creston runs higher than in 83% of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 111.2 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5. On top of that, the local count comes to 21.1 violent incidents and 42.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Creston reported put it at C− for safety: #207 of 251 in British Columbia. Each of the two towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Creston
Less severe than in 2023
Creston’s index went from 152.5 in 2023 to 73.2 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Creston records 11.9 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 ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Creston stands 34th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than British Columbia’s middle
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 111.2 in Creston. 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 Creston’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: #207 of 251 in British Columbia 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.
In Creston, down 52% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 152.5, and 2025 the lightest at 73.2. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Creston | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 73.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 107.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 152.5 | 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 Creston, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Creston’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Creston runs highest on mischief (11.9 per 1,000 against 4.9), fraud (8.5 per 1,000 against 4.9) and drug offences (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.7). Break and enter and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 13.7 | 2.3 | 27% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 10 | 1.7 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 103.3 | 17.2 | 20% |
| Mischief | 71.7 | 11.9 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 4.3 | 0.7 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 26 | 4.3 | 53% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 9.3 | 1.6 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 6.3 | 1.1 | 43% |
| Impaired driving | 11.3 | 1.9 | 82% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Creston places 34th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Ferris Ontario | 5,835 | 17.7 | 27.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Spallumcheen British Columbia | 5,843 | 51.3 | 59.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 19 | Electoral Area A, Cariboo British Columbia | 6,172 | 63.3 | 76.4 | B− |
| 20 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 65 | 107 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Electoral Area B, Peace River British Columbia | 5,814 | 81.8 | 82.5 | C |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Osoyoos British Columbia | 5,724 | 97.9 | 68.6 | C− |
| 32 | Seguin Ontario | 5,761 | 106.9 | 196.4 | C− |
| 33 | Stettler Alberta | 6,035 | 108.4 | 89.2 | C− |
| 34 | Creston British Columbia | 5,976 | 111.2 | 103.1 | C− |
| 35 | Vegreville Alberta | 6,153 | 138.4 | 107.9 | D |
| 36 | Melfort Saskatchewan | 6,028 | 144.9 | 143.9 | D |
| 37 | Cochrane Ontario | 5,948 | 145.5 | 191 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Duncan British Columbia | 5,745 | 384.5 | 331.1 | 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 Creston in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 130 violent incidents a year on Creston’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.
Add about 260 property crimes and 140 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 Creston
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creston | 5,976 | 111.2 | 103.1 | C− |
| Electoral Area B, Central Kootenay | 5,243 | 36.8 | 46.9 | A |
| Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay | 1,672 | 36.8 | 46.9 | A |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Creston. Closest is Electoral Area B, Central Kootenay, 2.8 km away, at 36.8 to 111.2 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
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. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Creston
Is Creston safe?
Creston measures 111.2 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 21.1 violent incidents and 42.5 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Creston?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 19.3 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 17.2 and mischief at 11.9.
Is crime going up in Creston?
Down 52%: 152.5 in 2023, 73.2 in 2025.
How much of Creston’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 22% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 38% of violent and 17% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Creston 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).