Photo: JohnHinks · CC BY-SA 3.0Stephenville sees more crime per resident than 88% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 115.3 and its non-violent half to 134.3, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. The yearly rates were 24.2 violent incidents and 55.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Add to that, on crime the police covering Stephenville reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D for safety: #2,309 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure rose, 121.1 to 138.2.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the Bay St. George detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Stephenville
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Stephenville records 4.6 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of Newfoundland and Labrador
The typical Newfoundland and Labrador town scores 81; Stephenville, 128.1. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Stephenville comes 36th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Stephenville’s two halves part ways: 115.3 for violence (typical 85.7) and 134.3 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
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 Stephenville’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.
Its place: #2,309 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.
Stephenville’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Stephenville runs highest on drug offences (4.6 per 1,000 against 0.7), mischief (27.8 per 1,000 against 4.9) and break and enter (5.4 per 1,000 against 2.8). 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 | 7.3 | 0.4 | 55% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 7.7 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 6 | 0.3 | 72% |
| Robbery | 5.3 | 0.3 | 70% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 14 | 0.8 | 41% |
| Breaking and entering | 100 | 5.4 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.3 | 0.3 | 38% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 26.7 | 1.5 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.3 | 0.3 | 21% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 250.7 | 13.6 | 27% |
| Mischief | 511.3 | 27.8 | 5% |
| Weapons violations | 9 | 0.5 | 44% |
| Administration of justice violations | 229 | 12.4 | 72% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 46 | 2.5 | 37% |
| Drug violations | 85 | 4.6 | 7% |
| Impaired driving | 102 | 5.5 | 30% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
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.
By its index, Stephenville stands 36th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beresford New Brunswick | 6,543 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 33 | Annapolis County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 6,719 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| 34 | Wainwright Alberta | 6,996 | 113 | 121.8 | C− |
| 35 | Gimli Manitoba | 6,914 | 126.6 | 134.2 | D |
| 36 | Stephenville Newfoundland and Labrador | 6,840 | 128.1 | 115.3 | D |
| 37 | Yarmouth Nova Scotia | 7,129 | 146.8 | 215.2 | D |
| 38 | Hope British Columbia | 7,183 | 208.1 | 173 | D |
| 39 | Merritt British Columbia | 7,190 | 270.6 | 338.1 | D |
| 40 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part Ontario | 7,008 | 302.3 | 509 | 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 Stephenville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Stephenville, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked most recently, in 2025 (138.2); 2023 was the low point, at 121.1. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Stephenville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 138.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 125 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 121.1 | 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 Stephenville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Stephenville is part of, 18,400 residents, recorded about 450 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 1,020 property crimes and 680 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Stephenville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephenville | 6,840 | 128.1 | 115.3 | D |
| Kippens | 1,927 | 128.1 | 115.3 | D |
| Stephenville Crossing | 1,731 | 128.1 | 115.3 | D |
| St. George's | 1,181 | 128.1 | 115.3 | D |
The comparison skips 3 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A wider policing area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Stephenville is one part.
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- 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.”
Questions about safety in Stephenville
Is Stephenville safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Stephenville’s Crime Severity Index stands at 128.1 for 2023–2025. Its police record 24.2 violent incidents and 55.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Stephenville?
Most often it is mischief: 27.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 24.5 and theft under $5,000 at 13.6.
Is crime going up in Stephenville?
It has: 121.1 in 2023 became 138.2 by 2025, a rise of 14%.
How much of Stephenville’s crime do police solve?
About 26% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 52% of violent and 17% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Stephenville 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).