Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Carbonear records more crime than 81% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 83.3 and its non-violent half to 118.8, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Carbonear grades C− for safety on crime the police covering Carbonear reported from 2023 to 2025: #29 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador. What’s more, in a usual year, 20.3 violent incidents and 53.1 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2.
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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Harbour Grace detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Carbonear
Mischief: high for a town its size
Carbonear records 31 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 ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Carbonear’s index splits into violent crime, 83.3 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 118.8 against 62.8. By type ↓
Less crime solved
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Carbonear’s police clear 15%, 34% of violent crime and 11% of the rest. Questions ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Carbonear is 33rd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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 Carbonear’s grade
How sure: A less certain grade than most, because the figures belong to the nearest detachment, 6 km from Carbonear, not to the town.
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: #29 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #1,996 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.
What police record in Carbonear, by type
Against the typical town its size, Carbonear runs highest on mischief (31 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (2.9 per 1,000 against 0.7) and break and enter (5.4 per 1,000 against 2.8). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 9.3 | 0.5 | 89% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 95 | 5.4 | 11% |
| Possession of stolen property | 10.3 | 0.6 | 26% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 42.7 | 2.4 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.7 | 0.3 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 157 | 9 | 15% |
| Mischief | 541 | 31 | 3% |
| Weapons violations | 11.7 | 0.7 | 28% |
| Administration of justice violations | 121 | 6.9 | 39% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 34.3 | 2 | 21% |
| Drug violations | 50 | 2.9 | 7% |
| Impaired driving | 96 | 5.5 | 16% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
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.
Carbonear comes 33rd of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Bruce Peninsula Ontario | 5,018 | 29.3 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Marystown Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,196 | 90.8 | 93 | C |
| 31 | Annapolis County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 5,086 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| 32 | Electoral Area D, Peace River British Columbia | 5,100 | 107.6 | 157.4 | C− |
| 33 | Carbonear Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,041 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| 34 | Cardston County Alberta | 4,938 | 108 | 123.7 | C− |
| 35 | Kneehill County Alberta | 5,129 | 110.8 | 105.9 | C− |
| 36 | Antigonish Nova Scotia | 5,175 | 115.4 | 123.5 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Nipawin Saskatchewan | 5,033 | 182.3 | 163.9 | 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 Carbonear in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment closest to Carbonear, 17,500 residents, recorded about 360 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.
Property crime adds about 930 a year and other violations 520 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
In Carbonear, up 7% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 114.7; 2023 was lightest, at 101.3. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Carbonear | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 108.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 114.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 101.3 | 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 Carbonear, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Carbonear
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbonear | 5,041 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Victoria | 1,837 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Harbour Grace | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Upper Island Cove | 1,553 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Spaniard's Bay | 2,664 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Bay Roberts | 6,407 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Carbonear. Closest is Spaniard's Bay, 13.6 km away, at 74.1 to 108 here. 3 nearby places have no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. 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.
- An index, not a verdict. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Carbonear
Is Carbonear safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 108 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where Carbonear stands, with 20.3 violent and 53.1 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Carbonear?
Police record mischief most, 31 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (17) and assault (9.7).
Is crime going up in Carbonear?
Yes: the index rose 7%, from 101.3 in 2023 to 108.1 in 2025.
How much of Carbonear’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 15% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 34% of violent and 11% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Carbonear 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).