/lightcatch/images/image-5a9e0.png "Lightcatch Logo for menu")
The Cities with the highest property crime rates in Alberta in January 2023 are shown in the chart below.
/lightcatch/Cities_With_Highest_Crime-c14c3.png)
Wetaskawin had the highest crime rate for a City in January. It was also #1 in December. Total property crimes were 79
Cold Lake was #2. Total property crimes were - 86
Edmonton was #3. Total property crimes were - 3728
Red Deer was #4. Total property crimes were - 354
Grande Prairie was 5th. Total property crimes were - 189
Leduc was 6th. Total property crimes were - 92
Calgary does not appear in this chart . Calgary had 30% less property crime than the second largest city, Edmonton, in January.
This is significant difference between the two cities that shows property crime has moved from the largest city to the second largest city.
To show how big of a change has taken place, later in the post I’ll show how the 6 highest crime locations next to Edmonton had 228% more property crime than the 6 highest crime locations near Calgary.
Residents in Edmonton and south of Edmonton should be especially vigilant.
Comparing Edmonton And Area To Calgary Part 1
/lightcatch/Edm_Area-q30dc.png)
Leduc County had the highest crime rate, followed by Edmonton, Calmar, Leduc, Devon, and Parkland County.
Notice how 4 communities are above the green bar in the Edmonton region.
Comparing Edmonton And Area To Calgary Part 2
/lightcatch/Calgary_Area-i05d0.png)
Calgary had the highest crime rate, followed by Rocky View County, Airdrie, Chestermere, Crossfield and Cochrane.
In this chart, the green bar is well above five of these communities. This shows how much lower property crime is around the Calgary region compared to the Edmonton region right now.
The highest crime communities around Edmonton had 228% more property crime than the highest crime communities around Calgary.
Places With The Highest Property Crime In Alberta In January
/lightcatch/Most_Dangerous_Places-m67cb.png)
O’Chiese First Nation had the highest crime rate.
This was followed by Bonnyville.
Imrpovement District No. 9 was #3. This region surrounding Jasper is close to both O’Chiese and Drayton Valley, communities that made the highest crime locations in January.
Leduc County was #4, Alberta Beach #5, and Wetaskawin was #6 in the province.
Here is a chart showing the six towns with the highest property crime rates in January.
/lightcatch/Towns_Highest_Crime-cbc6c.png)
These locations were Bonnyville, Alberta Beach, High Prairie, Peace River, Stettler, and Vegreville.
Seeing the crime rate on a Town level is very important for resident safety.
Places Where Rural Crime Was The Highest In January
Here is a chart showing the 6 locations with the highest crime in the province.
/lightcatch/Rural_High_Crime-p4318.png)
Highest Crime Places By Region
Below are the highest crime locations for eight regions across Alberta.
A list of 124 places and where they rank is at the bottom of the charts.
Central Alberta
/lightcatch/Central_Alberta-teac3.png)
O'Chiese First Nation had the highest crime, followed by Alberta Beach, Wetaskawin, Drayton Valley, Onoway, and Alix.
Eastern Alberta
/lightcatch/Eastern_AB-vc9e9.png)
Bonnyville has had the highest crime in the region for at least 4 months in a row.
Cold Lake was #2, Lac La Biche County #3, Vegreville #4, St. Paul #5 and Lamont County #6.
Property crime levels in Eastern Alberta are the highest in the province.
Southern Alberta - Badlands Region
/lightcatch/Southern_AB_and_Badlands-nd34c.png)
The Southern Alberta and Badlands regions have the lowest crime rates in the province.
Grande Prairie - Peace River Region
/lightcatch/GP_-_Peace_River-za6d1.png)
High Prairie had the highest crime rate in the region, followed by Peace River, Fox Creek, the MD of Greenview, Grande Prairie, and Valleyview.
/lightcatch/Rockies-d1e1d.png)
The Improvement District No. 9 once again had the highest crime rate per resident. This was followed by Edson, Hinton, Canmore, Yellowhead County and Banff.
These are the 124 places we rank from the highest crime to the lowest. There is the ranking, the name of the Municipality, the crimes per 1,000 residents, and the total reported crimes.
Ranking | Municipality| Crimes per 1,000 Residents| Reported Crimes
The Highest 25%
1 O'Chiese 8.87 7
2 Bonnyville 8.74 56
3 Improvement District No. 9 7.97 8
4 Leduc County 7.69 106
5 Alberta Beach 6.88 7
6 Wetaskiwin 6.24 79
7 Cold Lake 5.49 86
8 High Prairie 5.46 14
9 Lac La Biche County 5.34 41
10 Peace River 4.99 33
11 Stettler 4.50 25
12 Vegreville 4.38 25
13 Edson 4.18 35
14 Drayton Valley 4.15 30
15 Onoway 4.14 4
16 St Paul 4.09 24
17 Alix 4.09 3
18 Lamont County 4.00 15
19 Athabasca 3.99 11
20 Whitecourt 3.81 37
21 Edmonton 3.69 3728
22 Fox Creek 3.66 6
23 Smoky Lake County 3.65 15
24 Red Deer 3.51 354
25 Flagstaff County 3.48 13
26 Ponoka 3.41 25
27 MD of Greenview 3.39 31
28 Hinton 3.26 32
29 Sturgeon County 3.24 65
30 Castor 3.23 3
31 MD of Opportunity 3.14 10
32 Bowden 3.13 4
33 Wood Buffalo 3.10 222
34 Slave Lake 3.01 20
35 Samson Cree Nation 2.96 10
36 Grande Prairie 2.95 189
37 Innisfail 2.88 23
38 Olds 2.83 26
39 Calmar 2.75 6
40 Leduc 2.70 92
41 Calgary* 2.59 3215
42 Bassano 2.49 3
43 Valleyview 2.39 4
44 Claresholm 2.38 9
45 Vermilion River County 2.30 19
46 Bruderheim 2.26 3
47 Athabasca County 2.16 17
48 Devon 2.13 14
49 Barrhead 2.08 9
50 Westlock County 2.08 15
51 Northern Sunrise County 2.05 4
52 Parkland County 1.99 64
53 Bon Accord 1.96 3
54 Westlock 1.95 14
55 High Level 1.90 6
56 Berwyn 1.86 1
57 Canmore 1.86 26
58 Spruce Grove 1.83 69
59 Brooks 1.81 27
60 Redcliff 1.79 10
61 Clearwater County 1.77 21
62 Yellowhead County 1.73 19
63 Rocky View County 1.73 68
64 Airdrie 1.71 127
65 St. Paul County 1.66 10
66 Sexsmith 1.65 4
67 Lethbridge County 1.64 17
68 Chestermere 1.64 34
69 Fort Saskatchewan 1.59 43
70 Red Deer County 1.59 31
71 Morinville 1.54 16
72 Thorhild County 1.54 5
73 Brazeau County 1.53 11
74 Beaver County 1.52 9
75 County of Westaskawin 1.52 17
76 Sylvan Lake 1.50 24
77 MD of Bonnyville 1.47 19
78 Woodlands County 1.47 7
79 Strathmore 1.45 20
80 Penhold 1.44 5
81 St. Albert 1.42 97
82 Crossfield 1.39 5
83 Stony Plain 1.33 24
84 Rocky Mountain House 1.33 9
85 Wembley 1.32 2
86 Three Hills 1.31 4
87 Strathcona County 1.27 125
88 Sherwood Park 1.26 125
89 Crowsnest Pass 1.25 7
90 Big Lakes County 1.23 7
The Safest 25% In January
91 Ponoka County 1.22 12
92 Bashaw 1.18 1
93 Banff 1.15 9
94 Coaldale 1.14 10
95 Wheatland County 1.14 10
96 County of Barrhead 1.11 7
97 Sundre 1.10 3
98 Delburne 1.09 1
99 Cochrane 1.09 35
100 County of Grande Prairie 1.08 24
101 Lacombe County 0.97 13
102 Wainwright 0.96 6
103 Camrose County 0.94 8
104 Beaverlodge 0.88 2
105 Drumheller 0.88 7
106 Mountain View County 0.84 11
107 Cardston 0.84 3
108 Lac Ste. Anne County 0.83 9
109 Stoney Nakoda First Nation 0.76 3
110 High River 0.73 17
111 Black Diamond 0.73 2
112 Blackfalds 0.57 6
113 Stettler County 0.56 3
114 Foothills County 0.53 12
115 Jasper 0.44 2
116 Okotoks 0.43 13
117 Beaumont 0.38 8
118 Mackenzie County 0.36 4
119 Didsbury 0.31 4
120 Bentley 0.00 0
121 Bow Island 0.00 0
122 County of Forty Mile 0.00 0
123 Eckville 0.00 0
124 Nanton 0.00 0
125 Taber 0.00 0
Congratulations to all those communities that experience zero property crimes in January.
There are over 300 Municipalities in Alberta counting Villages and Reserves. We gather all the RCMP data, Calgary Police Service Data and Edmonton Police Service data that is publicly available. The goal is to report on the major areas and trends, not every single village.
Of the 300 RCMP reported areas this report covers 124 of the larger ones. The crimes are then compared to the population to get the crimes per 1,000 residents.
This method helps make the easiest comparison between locations. This method is also what the FBI uses to look at crime across America.
Calgary data is only available as recent as November 2022.
Calgary Property Crime Data
Commercial Robbery 22
Property Crimes 3618
Fraud (425)
Total 3215
Break and Enter Commercial 197
Break and Enter Residential 342
Graffiti 15
Mischief - Property 412
Property Damage 2
Robbery Commercial 26
Theft of Motor Vehicle 658
Theft Over $5000 101
Theft Under $5000 1975
Total 3728
Independent police services like the Lethbridge Police Service, the Lacombe Police Service, The Medicine Hat Police service do not seem to report the property crime rates publicly.
If there is a way to access data for these and any other police services please let me know.
Hythe property crime was included in the County of Grande Prairie's countGrande Cache property crime was included in the MD of Greenview's count.
Due to the difficulties in collecting this data some locations in Alberta may not be included.