Photo: busand2003 · CC BY 3.0Recorded crime per resident is lower in Melbourne than in 76% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 82.8 for violence and 30.3 for everything else (normally 86.4 and 62.8). By 2025 the index had dropped to 43.6, down from 50.5 in 2023. On top of that, its Safety Grade is A−, on crime the police covering Melbourne reported from 2023 to 2025. In a usual year, 10.5 violent incidents and 11.1 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, 12.0 and 31.2.
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, crime rate and incident counts numbers here cover the Val-Saint-François MRC.
What stands out about safety in Melbourne
The violent half stands out
Violent crime scores 82.8 on Melbourne’s index against 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+; non-violent crime, 30.3 against 62.8. By type ↓
Above-typical clearance
Weighted by seriousness, 47% of crime in Melbourne ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 61% of violent crime and 32% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Much like Quebec’s towns
Melbourne’s index of 45 compares with 56.1 for the typical town in Quebec. 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 Melbourne’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.
Melbourne, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 50.5, against a low of 41 in 2024. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Melbourne | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 43.6 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 41 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 50.5 | 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 Melbourne, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Which crimes make up Melbourne’s figures
Assault sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 23.7 | 0.7 | 49% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 2.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 6.7 | 0.2 | 79% |
| Breaking and entering | 49 | 1.5 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 42.3 | 1.3 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8 | 0.2 | 21% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 74.3 | 2.3 | 44% |
| Mischief | 55.7 | 1.7 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 5 | 0.2 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 54.3 | 1.6 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7 | 0.2 | 90% |
| Drug violations | 20 | 0.6 | 80% |
| Impaired driving | 40 | 1.2 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 18.3 | 0.6 | 16% |
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.
The police area Melbourne is part of, 33,400 residents, recorded about 350 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.
And about 370 property crimes, plus 160 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 Melbourne
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 1,128 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| Richmond | 3,419 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| Cleveland | 1,624 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| Durham-Sud | 1,041 | 72.2 | 124.7 | C+ |
| Windsor | 5,368 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton | 2,650 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey | 1,550 | 72.2 | 124.7 | C+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Melbourne. 4 nearby places have no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. 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.”
- Shared across the MRC. Where the Sûreté du Québec polices, Statistics Canada publishes one figure per MRC; Melbourne shares it with its neighbours.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- Cleared, not convicted. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
Questions about safety in Melbourne
Is Melbourne safe?
Melbourne’s Crime Severity Index is 45 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 10.5 violent incidents and 11.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Melbourne?
Top of the list is assault (4.5 per 1,000 residents a year); fraud, at 3.8, and theft under $5,000, at 2.3, follow.
Is crime going up in Melbourne?
No: the index fell 14%, from 50.5 in 2023 to 43.6 in 2025.
How much of Melbourne’s crime do police solve?
47%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 61% and non-violent crime at 32%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Melbourne and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).