Photo: Andrea_44 from Leamington, Ontario , Canada · CC BY 2.0Recorded crime per resident is lower in Essex than in 89% of Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 63.2 and 27.2. On the record of crime the police covering Essex reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes A for safety: #171 of 862 in Ontario. The local count comes to 4.9 violent incidents and 13.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Its two neighbours with figures both record more crime per resident.
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.
What stands out about safety in Essex
Easing since 2023
Essex’s index went from 31.7 in 2023 to 22.8 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Lighter than Ontario’s middle
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Essex scores 37.3. Towns its size ↓
More crime solved
Police cleared 51% of Essex’s crime, weighted by seriousness (88% of violent crime, 20% of the rest), against 33% across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Essex is 12th 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.
The grade: A for Essex
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: #171 of 862 in Ontario and #227 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Essex’s index dropped 28%
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 57.3, with 2025 the lightest at 22.8. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Essex | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 22.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 57.3 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 31.7 | 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 Essex, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Essex’s crime by kind
Theft under $5,000 and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2 | 0.08 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.10 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 27.3 | 1.2 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.3 | 0.2 | 75% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 17.3 | 0.7 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 10.7 | 0.5 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 103 | 4.4 | 15% |
| Mischief | 52 | 2.2 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 29.3 | 1.2 | 62% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5.3 | 0.2 | 38% |
| Drug violations | 2 | 0.09 | — |
| Impaired driving | 21.3 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.06 | — |
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.
Police in Essex recorded about 120 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 320 property crimes and 85 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, Essex places 12th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Middlesex Centre Ontario | 21,689 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| 4 | Embrun Ontario | 23,655 | 26.9 | 39.7 | A+ |
| 5 | Oro-Medonte Ontario | 24,681 | 27 | 31.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac Quebec | 21,949 | 30.8 | 56.8 | A+ |
| 10 | Angus Ontario | 26,036 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| 11 | Beloeil Quebec | 25,240 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 12 | Essex Ontario | 23,872 | 37.3 | 63.2 | A |
| 13 | Foothills County Alberta | 25,789 | 39.1 | 30.5 | A |
| 14 | L'Assomption Quebec | 25,126 | 39.2 | 59 | A |
| 15 | Saint-Lazare Quebec | 22,895 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 304.6 | 362 | 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 Essex in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Essex
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | 23,872 | 37.3 | 63.2 | A |
| Kingsville | 25,302 | 29.8 | 24.8 | A+ |
| Amherstburg | 27,509 | 78.6 | 94.5 | C+ |
Nearby, 1 of 2 places with their own figures have a lower index than Essex. Closest is Kingsville, 13.4 km away, at 29.8 to 37.3 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “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.
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Essex
Is Essex safe?
Essex measures 37.3 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 4.9 violent incidents and 13.4 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Essex?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 4.4, fraud at 4.3 and assault at 2.5, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Essex?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 28%, to 22.8 from 31.7.
How much of Essex’s crime do police solve?
About 51% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 88% of violent and 20% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Essex alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).