Photo: Dr Wilson · CC BY-SA 3.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Perth than in 92% of Canadian towns
Its Crime Severity Index climbed from 151.6 in 2023 to 174 by 2025. The local count comes to 28.2 violent incidents and 55.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. The Safety Grade comes out at D, drawn from crime the police covering Perth reported through 2023 to 2025. Of the two halves, violence comes to 160.4 and other offences to 166.4, beside norms of 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. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the Perth Andover detachment area).
What stands out about safety in Perth
Mischief: high for a town its size
Perth records 16.4 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 ↓
Above New Brunswick’s typical town
Within New Brunswick, the median town comes to 72.8 on the index, against 163.7 in Perth. Towns its size ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Perth scores 160.4 for violence and 166.4 for other crime; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ scores 86.4 and 62.8. By type ↓
Police clear less here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 25% for Perth (51% violent, 15% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Perth’s D
How sure: Less sure, as Perth has no detachment of its own in Statistics Canada’s tables and is graded on the closest one’s figures, 6 km away.
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 Perth, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Perth runs highest on mischief (16.4 per 1,000 against 4.2), break and enter (9.7 per 1,000 against 2.5) and motor vehicle theft (5.9 per 1,000 against 2.4). 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 | 3.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 4.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4 | 0.6 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 67 | 9.7 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 31 | 4.5 | 18% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 40.7 | 5.9 | 5% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.7 | 0.8 | 5% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 68.7 | 9.9 | 12% |
| Mischief | 113.3 | 16.4 | 5% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 0.8 | 51% |
| Administration of justice violations | 53 | 7.6 | 57% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 20 | 2.9 | 22% |
| Drug violations | 13.7 | 2 | 31% |
| Impaired driving | 26.3 | 3.8 | 42% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 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.
Perth, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked most recently, in 2025 (174); 2023 was the low point, at 151.6. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, 2023 gave 70.6 and 2025 gave 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Perth | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 174 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 165.5 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 151.6 | 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 Perth, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
About 200 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest Perth (6,950 residents), 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 380 property crimes, plus 240 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Perth
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth | 1,113 | 163.7 | 160.4 | D |
| Perth-Andover | 1,609 | 163.7 | 160.4 | D |
| Tobique 20 | 1,042 | — | — | — |
| Kent | 2,028 | 109.1 | 122.4 | C− |
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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- The index’s scale. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Perth
Is Perth safe?
Perth scores 163.7 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2; per 1,000 residents a year that is 28.2 violent incidents and 55.3 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Perth?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 17.4 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (16.4) and Criminal Code traffic offences (14.8).
Is crime going up in Perth?
Up 15%: 151.6 in 2023, 174 in 2025.
How much of Perth’s crime do police solve?
25%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 51% and non-violent crime at 15%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Perth 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).