Photo: Kevstan · CC BY-SA 3.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Nakusp than in 76% of Canadian towns
For every 1,000 residents, 18.1 violent incidents and 32.1 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, the figures are 12.0 and 31.2. Add to that, a Safety Grade of C− follows from crime the police covering Nakusp reported over the years 2023 to 2025. Split in two, the index gives 102.6 for violence and 93.1 for everything else (normally 86.4 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. Area-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Nakusp detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Nakusp
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Nakusp records 6.2 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 ↓
Near the British Columbia middle
Nakusp’s index of 95.2 compares with 83.2 for the typical town in British Columbia. 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 Nakusp’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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Crime in Nakusp, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Nakusp runs highest on break and enter (6.2 per 1,000 against 2.5) and mischief (8 per 1,000 against 4.2). 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 | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 23.7 | 6.2 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3.7 | 1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 10.3 | 2.7 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 33.3 | 8.7 | 19% |
| Mischief | 30.7 | 8 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 21.3 | 5.6 | 78% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6 | 1.6 | 12% |
| Drug violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Impaired driving | 8.3 | 2.2 | 52% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
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.
3,920 residents, about 69 violent incidents a year: the police area Nakusp belongs to, 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 120 property crimes, plus 84 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Three years of Nakusp’s crime index
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 111; the lightest was 2025, at 80.1. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, 2023 gave 70.6 and 2025 gave 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Nakusp | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 80.1 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 94.5 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 111 | 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 Nakusp, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Nakusp
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nakusp | 1,740 | 95.2 | 102.6 | C− |
| Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay (11 km) | 1,965 | 95.2 | 102.6 | C− |
| Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay (55 km) | 1,596 | 55.8 | 39.2 | B |
| Electoral Area E, North Okanagan (59 km) | 1,248 | 53.2 | 66.4 | B+ |
| Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay (72 km) | 5,390 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| Kaslo (74 km) | 1,141 | 55.8 | 39.2 | B |
Nakusp has the highest index of the places around it. Just 54.7 km away, Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay comes to 55.8, against 95.2. One neighbour reports through the same police, so its figure is this one and it isn’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Nakusp has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 11–74 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Few people behind the figures. The police behind these figures serve about 3,917 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- A wider policing area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Nakusp’s are shared with its surroundings.
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- Severity, weighed. 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 Nakusp
Is Nakusp safe?
Police-reported crime in Nakusp scores 95.2 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 18.1 violent incidents and 32.1 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 Nakusp?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 18.1 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 8.7 and mischief at 8.
Is crime going up in Nakusp?
No: the index fell 28%, from 111 in 2023 to 80.1 in 2025. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Nakusp’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 33%: 67% for violent crime and 19% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Nakusp 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).