Per resident, Kingston records less crime than three in four Canadian towns
Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Kingston’s Safety Grade is A−, on crime the police covering Kingston reported from 2023 to 2025. Violence accounts for an index of 50.7 and other offences for 45.3, against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8. Out of every 1,000 residents, 10.1 violent incidents and 16.3 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. Measured across the Queens District detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Kingston
Less severe than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Kingston stood at 52.3, by 2025 at 43.1. Over the same years the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 to 62.9. Year by year ↓
Below-typical clearance
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 25% for Kingston (36% violent, 21% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
About the Prince Edward Island norm
Set among Prince Edward Island’s towns, whose median is 46.7, Kingston scores 46.6. 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’s behind Kingston’s grade
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
In Kingston, down 18% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (52.3); 2025 was the lightest, at 43.1. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Kingston | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 43.1 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 44.4 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 52.3 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Kingston, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in Kingston, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Kingston runs highest on mischief (7.1 per 1,000 against 4.2). Assault sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 14.7 | 0.5 | 34% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 9.7 | 0.3 | 90% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5.7 | 0.2 | 18% |
| Breaking and entering | 41 | 1.3 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 8 | 0.2 | 29% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 24 | 0.8 | 29% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.3 | 0.2 | 5% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 105.7 | 3.3 | 9% |
| Mischief | 227.7 | 7.1 | 6% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 0.2 | 57% |
| Administration of justice violations | 97.7 | 3 | 67% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 31.7 | 1 | 6% |
| Drug violations | 27.3 | 0.8 | 28% |
| Impaired driving | 117.7 | 3.7 | 50% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.03 | — |
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 people or more.
About 320 violent incidents a year across the police area of 32,800 residents that includes Kingston, 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 520 property crimes, plus 410 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Kingston
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | 1,308 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| Miltonvale Park | 1,279 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| Cornwall | 7,920 | 46.9 | 58 | B+ |
| West River | 4,155 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| Charlottetown | 48,118 | 86.1 | 87.1 | C |
| Crapaud, Part 1 | 1,781 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| New Glasgow | 5,502 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Kingston. Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 4 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- What the index measures. 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.”
- A detachment’s area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Kingston is one part.
Questions about safety in Kingston
Is Kingston safe?
Kingston’s Crime Severity Index is 46.6 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 10.1 violent incidents and 16.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Kingston?
Mischief is the most common, at 7.1 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (7) and Criminal Code traffic offences (4.7).
Is crime going up in Kingston?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 18%, to 43.1 from 52.3.
How much of Kingston’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 25%: 36% for violent crime and 21% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Kingston and everywhere else it polices.
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).