Photo: Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0Yarmouth has less crime per resident than 66% of Canadian towns
On crime the police covering Yarmouth reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades B+ for safety: #2 of 88 in Nova Scotia. Typical years here bring 11.6 violent incidents plus 17.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 30.5 in the typical town its size. Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 68.3 and 46.
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 published for the Yarmouth detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Yarmouth
Below Nova Scotia’s typical town
Within Nova Scotia, the median town comes to 71.4 on the index, against 52.1 in Yarmouth. Towns its size ↓
Easing since 2023
In 2023 the index in Yarmouth stood at 54.2, by 2025 at 45.2. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Yarmouth stands 17th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Yarmouth records 6.6 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The B+ for Yarmouth, and how it is built
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 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #570 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
What police record in Yarmouth, by type
Against the typical town its size, Yarmouth runs highest on mischief (6.6 per 1,000 against 3.7) and break and enter (2.7 per 1,000 against 2.2). 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 | 11.3 | 0.6 | 80% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 8.3 | 0.4 | 45% |
| Breaking and entering | 50.7 | 2.7 | 12% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 25 | 1.3 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 55.3 | 2.9 | 24% |
| Mischief | 126 | 6.6 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 5.7 | 0.3 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 37.3 | 2 | 64% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 18.7 | 1 | 36% |
| Drug violations | 9.7 | 0.5 | 10% |
| Impaired driving | 71.7 | 3.8 | 29% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Yarmouth’s index fell 17% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 56.7, with 2025 the lightest at 45.2. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Yarmouth | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 45.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 56.7 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 54.2 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Yarmouth, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Yarmouth is part of, 19,000 residents, recorded about 220 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 340 property crimes and 190 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Among 40 towns its size, Yarmouth places 17th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Bois-des-Filion Quebec | 10,666 | 47.9 | 61 | B+ |
| 15 | Seaforth Ontario | 10,402 | 49.1 | 67.1 | B+ |
| 16 | Leeds and the Thousand Islands Ontario | 10,185 | 49.6 | 50.6 | B+ |
| 17 | Yarmouth Nova Scotia | 10,637 | 52.1 | 68.3 | B+ |
| 18 | Corman Park No. 344 Saskatchewan | 10,463 | 54.2 | 56.3 | B |
| 19 | Exeter Ontario | 10,781 | 55.2 | 73.8 | B |
| 20 | Penetanguishene Ontario | 11,141 | 56.4 | 92 | B |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Bridgewater Nova Scotia | 9,989 | 77.2 | 99.5 | C+ |
| 27 | Liverpool Nova Scotia | 10,997 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 35 | New Glasgow Nova Scotia | 10,378 | 128.5 | 146.4 | D |
| … | |||||
| 38 | Amherst Nova Scotia | 10,072 | 149.6 | 131.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Wheatland County Alberta | 10,150 | 298.8 | 486.4 | 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 Yarmouth in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Yarmouth
The comparison skips one neighbour reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A detachment’s area. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Yarmouth together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. 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.
- What the index measures. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Yarmouth
Is Yarmouth safe?
With 11.6 violent incidents and 17.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Yarmouth comes to 52.1 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have a median of 66.
What is the most common crime in Yarmouth?
Top of the list is mischief (6.6 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 4.7, and Criminal Code traffic offences, at 4.4, follow.
Is crime going up in Yarmouth?
No: the index fell 17%, from 54.2 in 2023 to 45.2 in 2025.
How much of Yarmouth’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 33% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 62% of violent crime and 16% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Yarmouth and everywhere else it polices.
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).