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Which Calgary Communities Report the Lowest Crime Rates?

A data-based comparison across 7-year, 3-year, and 1-year windows.

TL;DR · Summary

  • We calculate crime volume per population instead of raw crime counts.
  • We compare three time windows: 2017–2024, 2021–2024, and 2024-only.
  • Some communities are consistently low-crime across both long and short windows.
  • This post links to an interactive dashboard on YYC-Wander, so you can explore the data yourself.
  • Data source:
    • Calgary Police Service (CPS) public crime reporting.
    • City of Calgary municipal census
    • This post is for general informational purposes only – not legal, safety, or investment advice.
    Topics: Crime per population Neighbourhood comparison Calgary communities
    Crime prevention and public safety are collaborative efforts in Calgary — data helps us understand patterns, not create alarm.
    Crime prevention and public safety are collaborative efforts in Calgary — data helps us understand patterns, not create alarm.

    Explore the interactive version here:

    📍 Calgary Crime — Community Trends | Calgary (2017–2024) →

    It tracks crime across Calgary communities from 2017 onward.

    1) Why rankings use crime-per-population

    Raw incident counts can be misleading — larger communities naturally see more reports.

    To compare areas fairly, we calculate:

    (cumulative crime incidents over the period) ÷ (2021 community census population)

    This reflects the level of exposure to crime among residents, rather than indicating who committed the offences.

    Important clarification:

    This does not imply that residents themselves committed the crimes — many incidents may involve people from outside the area.

    The population figure is used purely for normalization, so rankings reflect relative exposure to crime, not responsibility for crime.

    2) Results: 2017–2024 (7-year cumulative)

    This window shows long-term stability — how communities perform over a full seven-year span.

    Top Calgary communities with the lowest crime rates per population, 2017–2024 (cumulative).
    Figure 1 · 2017–2024 crime per population (7-year cumulative).

    3) Results: 2021–2024 (3-year cumulative)

    This window removes older data and focuses on recent patterns — roughly the post-pandemic period.

    Top Calgary communities with the lowest crime rates per population, 2021–2024.
    Figure 2 · 2021–2024 crime per population (3-year cumulative).

    4) Results: 2024 only

    Finally, we look at 2024 alone, which reflects the most recent recorded patterns and is useful for understanding current conditions.

    Top Calgary communities with the lowest crime rates per population, 2024.
    Figure 3 · 2024 crime per population (1-year snapshot).

    5) Consistent low-crime communities across all periods

    Communities that appear across all three rankings (7-year, 3-year, and 1-year) suggest:

    • Stable safety patterns over time
    • Lower exposure to recorded crime per resident
    • A more predictable living environment

    In other words, safety here looks more like a long-term pattern than a short-term coincidence.

    6) Crime type structure

    Looking at the structure of incidents across Calgary, a large share of recorded crime falls into a few key categories:

    • Theft from vehicle
    • Theft of vehicle
    • Commercial break and enter
    • Non-domestic assault
    Crime type structure for Calgary, showing key categories such as theft from vehicle and commercial break and enter.
    Figure 4 · Crime type structure – which incident categories dominate Calgary’s crime totals.

    This pattern suggests that many incidents are related to exposed assets — vehicles, shops, and public facilities — rather than some communities being “good” or “bad” in an absolute sense.

    7) Time trend: 2017–2024

    Over time, total crime volumes in Calgary do not simply rise in a straight line. Instead, they show local peaks and downturns.

    • Notable peaks appear around 2019 and 2022.
    • Overall levels trend downward through 2023–2024.
    Crime time series for Calgary, 2017–2024, showing peaks and declines in total incidents.
    Figure 5 · 2017–2024 time trend – total recorded crime incidents in Calgary.

    These movements align with changes in population mobility, the level of commercial activity, and seasonal patterns rather than a single one-directional story about safety.

    8) How to interpret these results

    Finally, it’s important to read these rankings as information, not as labels:

    • Lower crime rates do not mean a community is “absolutely safe”.
    • Higher crime rates do not mean a community is “dangerous” or “to be avoided”.
    • Communities have different functions: some are commercial hubs, some are mainly residential, some are key transport corridors.
    • This article does not list or comment on communities with higher crime rates.
    • The goal is to provide a neutral, data-based reference for people who want to understand city-wide patterns.

    If you want to explore Calgary’s crime patterns in more detail, you can use the interactive dashboard below.

    📍 View Full Dashboard →

    Explore the full interactive version at your own pace.