Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Perth than in 60% of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 72.7 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5. Police counts work out at 17.2 violent incidents and 26.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2. Add to that, the grade is C+, built on crime the police covering Perth reported from 2023 to 2025: #731 of 862 in Ontario. The typical town in Ontario scores 56.2 on the same index.
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 Perth
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Perth records 2 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
A high clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 54% for Perth (79% violent, 31% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
The violent half stands out
Perth scores 120.3 for violence and 54.2 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Perth comes 24th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. 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.
What sits behind Perth’s C+
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: #731 of 862 in Ontario and #1,528 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.
Crime in Perth, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Perth runs highest on sexual assault (2 per 1,000 against 0.9), fraud (6.6 per 1,000 against 4.9) and assault (8.1 per 1,000 against 6.7). Break and enter and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 11 | 1.6 | 30% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.7 | 0.8 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4.7 | 0.7 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 83.3 | 12.1 | 18% |
| Mischief | 32 | 4.7 | 20% |
| Weapons violations | 3.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 45.7 | 6.6 | 78% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5.3 | 0.8 | 57% |
| Drug violations | 5.7 | 0.8 | 75% |
| Impaired driving | 10.3 | 1.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Perth places 24th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parkhill Ontario | 6,864 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| 2 | Lucan Ontario | 6,827 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Colborne Ontario | 7,216 | 30.1 | 41.7 | A+ |
| 7 | Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Ontario | 7,052 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Chandler Quebec | 7,323 | 69.4 | 134.9 | C+ |
| 22 | Fernie British Columbia | 7,086 | 69.5 | 65.2 | C+ |
| 23 | Val-des-Sources Quebec | 7,303 | 72.6 | 127.5 | C+ |
| 24 | Perth Ontario | 6,972 | 72.7 | 120.3 | C+ |
| 25 | La Sarre Quebec | 7,199 | 75.8 | 140 | C+ |
| 26 | Barrington Nova Scotia | 6,720 | 76.1 | 96.9 | C+ |
| 27 | Devon Alberta | 6,965 | 76.7 | 61.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 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 Perth in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Perth 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 180 property crimes and 95 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Perth’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 90 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 63.7 in 2023. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Perth | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 64.3 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 90 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 63.7 | 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 Perth, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Perth
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth | 6,972 | 72.7 | 120.3 | C+ |
| Drummond/North Elmsley | 8,817 | 28.8 | 34.8 | A+ |
| Tay Valley | 6,171 | 37.7 | 46.6 | A |
| Smiths Falls | 11,093 | 105.1 | 147.6 | C− |
2 of the 3 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Perth. Just 7 km away, Drummond/North Elmsley comes to 28.8, against 72.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Perth
Is Perth safe?
With 17.2 violent incidents and 26.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Perth comes to 72.7 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Perth?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 12.1 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (10.6) and assault (8.1).
Is crime going up in Perth?
The index stayed close to where it was, 63.7 in 2023 and 64.3 in 2025.
How much of Perth’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 79% of violent crime and 31% of everything else, 54% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Perth and nowhere else.
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).