Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, St. Thomas records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 72.6 for violence and 62.8 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56). St. Thomas grades B− for safety overall (#518 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Even so, by 2025 the index had dropped to 61.6, down from 68.5 in 2023. Next door, 4 of 6 towns with figures record 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 St. Thomas
Break and enter: high for a town its size
St. Thomas records 3.7 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
More crime solved
For Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the typical clearance rate is 33%; St. Thomas’s police clear 45%, 70% of violent crime and 34% of the rest. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, St. Thomas places 21st from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Much like Ontario’s towns
St. Thomas’s index of 65.2 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. 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 St. Thomas’s B−
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: #518 of 862 in Ontario and #1,008 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 St. Thomas, by type
Against the typical town its size, St. Thomas runs highest on break and enter (3.7 per 1,000 against 2.2), theft under $5,000 (18 per 1,000 against 11.8) and sexual assault (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.8). Drug offences and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 11.7 | 0.2 | 91% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 20.7 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 16 | 0.3 | 54% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5.7 | 0.1 | 93% |
| Other violent violations | 9 | 0.2 | 81% |
| Breaking and entering | 175.3 | 3.7 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 17.3 | 0.4 | 77% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 59 | 1.2 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8.3 | 0.2 | 48% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 864.3 | 18 | 29% |
| Mischief | 246.7 | 5.1 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 12.7 | 0.3 | 87% |
| Administration of justice violations | 295.3 | 6.1 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 35 | 0.7 | 51% |
| Drug violations | 33.3 | 0.7 | 95% |
| Impaired driving | 61 | 1.3 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.01 | — |
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.
St. Thomas, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (68.5); 2025 was the lightest, at 61.6. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | St. Thomas | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 61.6 | 60 |
| 2024 | 65.6 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 68.5 | 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 St. Thomas, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, St. Thomas stands 21st of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeshore Ontario | 45,954 | 26.8 | 29 | A+ |
| 2 | Bradford Ontario | 51,346 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 3 | Innisfil Ontario | 50,686 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 4 | Alliston Ontario | 50,739 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Victoriaville Quebec | 49,863 | 55 | 86.5 | B |
| 19 | Saint-Eustache Quebec | 47,562 | 55.4 | 78.9 | B |
| 20 | West Vancouver British Columbia | 47,929 | 57.2 | 59.8 | B |
| 21 | St. Thomas Ontario | 49,388 | 65.2 | 72.6 | B− |
| 22 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 65.9 | 65.9 | B− |
| 23 | Rouyn-Noranda Quebec | 43,270 | 66.7 | 112.8 | B− |
| 24 | Woodstock Ontario | 55,572 | 69.7 | 61.8 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince Albert Saskatchewan | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | 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 St. Thomas in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in St. Thomas recorded about 510 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 1,670 property crimes and 480 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around St. Thomas
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Thomas | 49,388 | 65.2 | 72.6 | B− |
| Central Elgin | 15,230 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Southwold | 5,473 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Aylmer | 8,371 | 49 | 63.6 | B+ |
| Malahide | 9,995 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Lambeth | 2,609 | 69.8 | 86.4 | C+ |
| White Oaks | 21,108 | 69.8 | 86.4 | C+ |
Of 6 places nearby with their own figures, 4 come in under St. Thomas. The nearest of them, Central Elgin (2 km away), scores 31.5 against 65.2.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. 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.”
- 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 St. Thomas
Is St. Thomas safe?
With 10.5 violent incidents and 34.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, St. Thomas comes to 65.2 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 St. Thomas?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 18, other Criminal Code offences at 7.3 and assault at 6.2, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in St. Thomas?
It went down 10% between 2023 and 2025, from 68.5 to 61.6.
How much of St. Thomas’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 45% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 70% of violent crime and 34% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers St. Thomas 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).