Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Hamilton records less crime per resident than almost every Canadian town
Of the two halves, violence comes to 30.4 and other offences to 24, beside norms of 89.4 and 56. Per 1,000 residents a year, 4.1 violent incidents and 7.9 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Graded on crime the police covering Hamilton reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores A+ for safety: #27 of 862 in Ontario. None of the 3 towns next door with figures records less 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 Hamilton
Below Ontario’s typical town
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Hamilton scores 25.7. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Hamilton is 1st 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.
Inside Hamilton’s A+ for safety
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: #27 of 862 in Ontario and #29 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.
Hamilton’s crime by kind
Assault 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 | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.09 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 11 | 0.9 | 27% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.3 | 0.5 | 57% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 15.7 | 1.3 | 6% |
| Mischief | 16 | 1.4 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.09 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 11 | 0.9 | 79% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Drug violations | 7.3 | 0.6 | 14% |
| Impaired driving | 11.3 | 1 | 100% |
| 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.
Hamilton comes 1st of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton Ontario | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Drayton Ontario | 11,518 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Georgian Bluffs Ontario | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| 4 | Cantley Quebec | 12,291 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| 5 | Millbrook Ontario | 11,507 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| 6 | Adjala-Tosorontio Ontario | 11,948 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| 7 | Tay Ontario | 11,968 | 34.3 | 46.4 | A |
| 8 | Morrisburg Ontario | 11,943 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Williams Lake British Columbia | 11,462 | 248.9 | 248.6 | 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 Hamilton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 48 violent incidents a year on Hamilton’s police records (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.
And about 93 property crimes, plus 45 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Hamilton’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 27.6 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 24.6 in 2023. 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 | Hamilton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 24.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 27.6 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 24.6 | 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 Hamilton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Hamilton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| Cobourg | 22,529 | 71 | 94.5 | C+ |
| Port Hope | 18,446 | 31.2 | 36.4 | A |
| Alnwick/Haldimand | 8,197 | 21.6 | 26.9 | A+ |
Nearby, 1 of 3 places with their own figures have a lower index than Hamilton. Just 12.7 km away, Alnwick/Haldimand comes to 21.6, against 25.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- What 100 means. 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.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Hamilton
Is Hamilton safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 25.7 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: that is where Hamilton stands, with 4.1 violent and 7.9 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Hamilton?
The three biggest groups are fraud at 3.7, assault at 1.8 and other Criminal Code offences at 1.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Hamilton?
The index stayed close to where it was, 24.6 in 2023 and 24.8 in 2025.
How much of Hamilton’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 71% of violent crime and 22% of everything else, 38% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Hamilton 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).