Per resident, Salmo records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 72.6 for violence and 67.7 for everything else (normally 86.4 and 62.8). The yearly rates were 14.7 violent incidents and 22.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Its Safety Grade, B−, rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns.
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. Measured across the Salmo detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Salmo
Mischief: high for a town its size
Salmo records 7.8 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Near the British Columbia middle
Salmo’s index of 68.7 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 Salmo’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 Salmo, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Salmo runs highest on drug offences (4.4 per 1,000 against 0.7) and mischief (7.8 per 1,000 against 4.2). Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 5 | 1.8 | 26% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.3 | 1.9 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 20.7 | 7.2 | 3% |
| Mischief | 22.3 | 7.8 | 6% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 9 | 3.1 | 67% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 2.3 | 0.8 | — |
| Drug violations | 12.7 | 4.4 | 84% |
| Impaired driving | 27.3 | 9.6 | 68% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 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 people or more.
About 42 violent incidents a year across the police area of 2,860 residents that includes Salmo, 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 64 property crimes and 88 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
The index in Salmo, each year
Crime Severity Index
From 78.5 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 60.2 in 2025. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Salmo | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 60.2 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 67.4 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 78.5 | 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 Salmo, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Salmo
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salmo | 1,310 | 68.7 | 72.6 | B− |
| Electoral Area G, Central Kootenay (8 km) | 1,795 | 68.7 | 72.6 | B− |
| Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary (21 km) | 2,008 | 63.8 | 58.3 | B− |
| Fruitvale (21 km) | 2,068 | 63.8 | 58.3 | B− |
| Montrose (26 km) | 1,072 | 63.8 | 58.3 | B− |
| Castlegar (29 km) | 9,465 | 107.5 | 94.1 | C− |
3 of the 4 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Salmo. Closest is Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary, 20.8 km away, at 63.8 to 68.7 here. One nearby place has no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 8–29 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Salmo.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Few people behind the figures. With roughly 2,857 residents in its police area, a few cases swing the figures. In Statistics Canada’s words, “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- Shared with the countryside. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Salmo is one part.
- The index’s scale. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- What clearance means. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- 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.”
Questions about safety in Salmo
Is Salmo safe?
Statistics Canada puts Salmo at 68.7 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more sit at 67.2 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 14.7 and property crimes at 22.5 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Salmo?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 13, Criminal Code traffic offences at 11.5 and mischief at 7.8, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Salmo?
Down 23%: 78.5 in 2023, 60.2 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Salmo’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 39% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+); split up, that is 55% of violent and 31% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Salmo together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).