What is it?
A crime rate is the number of crimes reported in a year for every 100,000 residents of an area. The Toronto Police Service (TPS) says it follows the standard Statistics Canada definition.
Counts alone always look higher in areas where more people live. Dividing by residents makes it fairer to compare areas of different sizes.
A worked example
| Area A | Area B | |
|---|---|---|
| Reported crimes in a year | 50 | 50 |
| Residents | 10,000 | 25,000 |
| Crime rate per 100,000 residents | 500 | 200 |
A made-up example, for reference only. Crime rate = count ÷ residents × 100,000.
Things to watch for
- Residents only: the population in the TPS data is only the people who live in the area. Commuters and shoppers are not counted. So areas with many shops, stations or tourist spots show higher rates.
- Reported crimes only: what is not reported to police is not in the numbers.
- Only an area average: streets inside one neighbourhood differ. One number cannot tell you that a street or home is safe or unsafe.
- We never label areas “safe” or “unsafe” or rank them. We show several years next to the Toronto-wide numbers, and that is all.
- TPS uses population estimates from Environics Analytics, which can differ a little from census counts.
What the law and official sources say
Quotes are copied word for word. The "In plain words" lines are our explanation, not an official translation.
Following the standard definition by StatsCan, crime rate is calculated as the crime count per 100,000 population* per year. This metric facilitates the comparisons of crime between geographic areas with different size of populations.In plain wordsIn plain words: the crime rate is the yearly crime count per 100,000 people, following Statistics Canada, so areas of different sizes can be compared.
Source: ckan0.cf.opendata.inter.prod-toronto.ca/api/3/action/package_show?id=neighbourhood-crime-rates · checked Nov 5, 2026
*Population figures reflect only the resident population of a region. The temporary population such as the commuters and business patrons are not included.In plain wordsIn plain words: the population counts only people who live there. Commuters, shoppers and other short-term visitors are not counted.
Source: ckan0.cf.opendata.inter.prod-toronto.ca/api/3/action/package_show?id=neighbourhood-crime-rates · checked Nov 5, 2026
Common questions
Is an area with a high crime rate a dangerous area?
You cannot say that. Rates count residents only, so busy commercial areas look higher, and every street is different. Look up an address yourself on the maps in the Toronto Police Service Public Safety Data Portal.
Why look at several years, not one?
In a small neighbourhood a few incidents can move the rate a lot. Looking at several years together smooths out one-year chance.
Guides that use this term
Sources checked
- City of Toronto Open Data, Neighbourhood Crime Rates (Toronto Police Service) · checked Nov 5, 2026
- Toronto Police Service, Public Safety Data Portal · checked Nov 5, 2026
- Same dataset, description text (CKAN API) · checked Nov 5, 2026