Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0On property crime, Canaan has a lower rate per resident than four in five U.S. towns
Taking everything together, Canaan scores B+ (#80 of 124 graded towns in New Hampshire): less crime per resident than 74% of U.S. towns, measured on crimes its police reported between 2023 and 2025. Its 3 neighbors with figures all record less crime per resident. The local count comes to 1.4 violent crimes and 4.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 1.1 and 8.8 in the rest of New Hampshire.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NH” is every other New Hampshire city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Canaan
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 New Hampshire towns on Canaan’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Grafton (A+), Hanover (A), Enfield (A−). Neighbors ↓
Among New Hampshire towns, closer to the middle
New Hampshire’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Canaan’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 35% of the 124 New Hampshire towns we grade, against 74% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Canaan’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Canaan | Rest of New Hampshire | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Canaan’s police reported 16 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.1 in the rest of New Hampshire and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Canaan per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Canaan property | Rest of New Hampshire property | Canaan violent | Rest of New Hampshire violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.8 | 10.4 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| 2023 | 6.5 | 9.1 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 9.2 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| 2025 | 4.4 | 8.2 | 2.6 | 1.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of New Hampshire.
27 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
10 violent and 17 property, as reported to the FBI by Canaan’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Canaan’s roads in 2019–2023
Canaan had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
That is about what is typical for New Hampshire towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (10.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Canaan’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Canaan’s own rate (10.5) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Canaan and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New Hampshire towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canaan | B+ | 1.4 | 4.6 |
| Walpole | A | 0.6 | 2.2 |
| Gilmanton | A | 0.6 | 3.8 |
| Wilton | A− | 0.4 | 5.5 |
| Chesterfield | A− | 1.4 | 4.2 |
| Hinsdale | C− | 3.8 | 25.5 |
The five graded New Hampshire towns closest to Canaan’s population (3,833), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Canaan. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Canaan’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,827 in 2025); our figure for Canaan is 3,833 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Canaan
Is Canaan, NH safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Canaan reports less crime per resident than 74% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #80 of 124 in New Hampshire. Its police reported 1.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.1 in the rest of New Hampshire and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Canaan?
1.4 violent and 4.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Hampshire reports 1.1 and 8.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Canaan safer than Enfield?
Enfield reports less crime per resident than Canaan: Enfield grades A− for safety and Canaan B+. Enfield’s police reported 1.2 violent and 3.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Canaan?
Canaan’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Canaan”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Canaan.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.