Photo: Quinn Desilets · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Nelson than in 79% of Canadian towns
The local count comes to 18.7 violent incidents and 61.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Graded on crime the police covering Nelson reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores C− for safety: #200 of 251 in British Columbia. Split in two, the index gives 98.4 for violence and 102 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56). 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 Nelson
Mischief: high for a town its size
Nelson records 17 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 ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Nelson is 38th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Easing since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Nelson moved from 106.5 to 82.6, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Violent crime scores 98.4 on Nelson’s index against 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 102 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.
The C− for Nelson, and how it is built
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: #200 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,936 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.
Which crimes make up Nelson’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Nelson runs highest on mischief (17 per 1,000 against 3.7), theft under $5,000 (30 per 1,000 against 11.8) and break and enter (5 per 1,000 against 2.2). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 6 | 0.5 | 22% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 59.7 | 5 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.3 | 0.6 | 55% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 20.7 | 1.7 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7.3 | 0.6 | 23% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 361.3 | 30 | 30% |
| Mischief | 204.7 | 17 | 19% |
| Weapons violations | 6 | 0.5 | 72% |
| Administration of justice violations | 51.7 | 4.3 | 67% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 17.3 | 1.4 | 52% |
| Drug violations | 5.7 | 0.5 | 65% |
| Impaired driving | 26.3 | 2.2 | 87% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
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.
Year by year in Nelson: down 22%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (112) and 2025 the trough (82.6). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Nelson | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 82.6 | 60 |
| 2024 | 112 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 106.5 | 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 Nelson, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Nelson places 38th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 39.1 | 40.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Summerland British Columbia | 12,343 | 56.2 | 38.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Weyburn Saskatchewan | 11,871 | 75.6 | 64.9 | C+ |
| 36 | Elliot Lake Ontario | 12,317 | 86.6 | 123.3 | C |
| 37 | Wetaskiwin County No. 10 Alberta | 12,117 | 88.9 | 60 | C |
| 38 | Nelson British Columbia | 12,126 | 100.4 | 98.4 | C− |
| 39 | Lac Ste. Anne County Alberta | 12,639 | 120 | 99.2 | D |
| 40 | Clearwater County Alberta | 11,856 | 188.3 | 342.3 | 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 Nelson in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 230 violent incidents a year on Nelson’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.
Property crime adds about 730 a year and other violations 130 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Nelson
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | 12,126 | 100.4 | 98.4 | C− |
| Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay | 4,309 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| Electoral Area F, Central Kootenay | 4,209 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
Nelson has the highest index of the places around it. Just 3.2 km away, Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay comes to 35.8, against 100.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. 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.
- Severity, weighed. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- What 100 means. 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.
Questions about safety in Nelson
Is Nelson safe?
Its police recorded 18.7 violent incidents and 61 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Nelson a Crime Severity Index of 100.4. For Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the typical index is 66.
What is the most common crime in Nelson?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 30 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come mischief at 17 and assault at 9.
Is crime going up in Nelson?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 22%, to 82.6 from 106.5.
How much of Nelson’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 28%: 45% for violent crime and 22% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Nelson’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).