Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainSalisbury sees more crime per resident than 72% of Canadian towns
The grade is C, built on crime the police covering Salisbury reported from 2023 to 2025: #38 of 59 in New Brunswick. Police counts work out at 16.7 violent incidents and 36.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2. Split in two, the index gives 92.8 for violence and 84 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). Its Crime Severity Index dropped from 94.8 in 2023 to 89.1 by 2025.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the Sussex detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Salisbury
Mischief: high for a town its size
Salisbury records 10.1 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 ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Salisbury places 30th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Near the New Brunswick middle
Salisbury’s index of 86 compares with 72.8 for the typical town in New Brunswick. 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.
Inside Salisbury’s C for safety
How sure: Less sure than most: the grade leans on the closest detachment, 42 km from Salisbury, since none reports under the town’s name.
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: #38 of 59 in New Brunswick and #1,785 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.
Crime in Salisbury, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Salisbury runs highest on mischief (10.1 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (5.2 per 1,000 against 2.8) and fraud (6.1 per 1,000 against 4.9). Motor vehicle theft 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 | 11.7 | 0.6 | 60% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5.3 | 0.3 | 75% |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 6.7 | 0.3 | 40% |
| Breaking and entering | 102 | 5.2 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 18.3 | 0.9 | 48% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 43.3 | 2.2 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8.7 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 212.3 | 10.8 | 28% |
| Mischief | 198 | 10.1 | 7% |
| Weapons violations | 9.7 | 0.5 | 52% |
| Administration of justice violations | 73.7 | 3.7 | 62% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 27 | 1.4 | 17% |
| Drug violations | 17.7 | 0.9 | 36% |
| Impaired driving | 58.7 | 3 | 55% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Among 40 towns its size, Salisbury places 30th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mulmur Ontario | 3,813 | 24 | 17.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Killarney Manitoba | 3,708 | 81.4 | 71.7 | C |
| 28 | Westville Nova Scotia | 3,731 | 84.1 | 65 | C |
| 29 | Pincher Creek Alberta | 3,890 | 84.5 | 85.4 | C |
| 30 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 3,806 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| 31 | Studholm New Brunswick | 3,668 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| 32 | Maniwaki Quebec | 3,803 | 90.6 | 152.3 | C |
| 33 | Lake Cowichan British Columbia | 3,757 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 39 | Alnwick New Brunswick | 3,767 | 124.8 | 183 | D |
| 40 | Cowichan Bay British Columbia | 3,713 | 131.7 | 149.7 | 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 Salisbury in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Salisbury, 20,000 residents: around 330 violent incidents a year, 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 710 property crimes and 320 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Salisbury, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 94.8, against a low of 74.1 in 2024. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Salisbury | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 89.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 74.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 94.8 | 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 Salisbury, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Salisbury
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury | 3,806 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| Petitcodiac | 1,610 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| Salisbury | 2,585 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| Havelock | 1,105 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
2 places nearby are policed together with it and reported as one, so there is nothing to compare.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Salisbury
Is Salisbury safe?
With 16.7 violent incidents and 36.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Salisbury comes to 86 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Salisbury?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (10.8 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 10.1, and other Criminal Code offences, at 10, follow.
Is crime going up in Salisbury?
Down 6%: 94.8 in 2023, 89.1 in 2025.
How much of Salisbury’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 49% of violent crime and 18% of everything else, 28% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Salisbury 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).