Rolston sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Its violent half comes to 85.7 and its non-violent half to 58.2, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. Taking everything together, Rolston scores B− (#519 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, measured on crime its police reported between 2023 and 2025. In 2023 the index stood at 68.2; it fell to 62.2 in 2025. The local count comes to 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
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. The crime severity and crime rate numbers here cover the Hamilton service area.
Inside Rolston’s B− for safety
How sure: Less sure, since one city-wide figure stands behind it, and Rolston can differ a long way from its city’s average.
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: #519 of 862 in Ontario and #1,018 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
What Hamilton’s police record, by type
These are Hamilton’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Hamilton runs highest on motor vehicle theft (3.1 per 1,000 against 1.7), drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 10 | 0.02 | 83% |
| Sexual violations against children | 95 | 0.2 | 55% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 122.3 | 0.2 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 77.3 | 0.1 | 45% |
| Robbery | 380.7 | 0.6 | 36% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 37 | 0.06 | 83% |
| Other violent violations | 117.7 | 0.2 | 50% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,695 | 2.7 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 237.3 | 0.4 | 88% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,925.7 | 3.1 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 283.3 | 0.5 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,419.7 | 15 | 7% |
| Mischief | 2,898.7 | 4.6 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 192 | 0.3 | 76% |
| Administration of justice violations | 2,806.3 | 4.5 | 93% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 216.7 | 0.3 | 46% |
| Drug violations | 821.7 | 1.3 | 73% |
| Impaired driving | 397 | 0.6 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 11.3 | 0.02 | 71% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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 50,000 people or more.
Rolston, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 68.2, and 2025 the lightest at 62.2. The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Rolston | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 66.7 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 68.2 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Rolston, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Rolston
Its police also cover 6 neighbouring places, which carry the same index and are left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- One figure for the city. Its city publishes no open neighbourhood crime figures, so every figure for Rolston is the city police’s, for the whole city.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
Questions about safety in Rolston
Is Rolston safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Rolston comes to 65.7. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 property crimes. Across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the median is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Rolston?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 15 per 1,000 residents a year, then assault (6.7) and other Criminal Code offences (5.2).
Is crime going up in Rolston?
Down 9%: 68.2 in 2023, 62.2 in 2025.
How much of Rolston’s crime do police solve?
About 34% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 50% of violent and 24% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
The city force’s, one set of figures for the city.
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).