Methodology
How neighbourhood scores work
Each metric is converted to a 0-100 score with fixed breakpoints (piecewise-linear, not relative to other neighbourhoods). Calgary has its own scale: metrics whose typical level is set by the city (transit service, parkland per resident, rent and home prices) are rescaled to Calgary, and the rest share the reference breakpoints. Metrics are averaged into categories using the weights below, and categories into the overall score. The City publishes no injury collision locations, so road safety is not scored and Safety uses crime only. Distances and shares are measured from where residents live (every home on the City's assessment roll, placed on its parcel), weighted by population.
Scoring model v2, updated 2026-10-11. Every number on this page is read from the same configuration file the data pipeline uses.
Overall score
The overall score is the weighted average of seven category scores. On the home page you can change these weights or pick a preset; category scores stay the same, only how they are combined changes.
Safety
25% of overallCrime near homes and serious traffic collisions.
Violent crime near homes · 50% of Safety · per 1,000 residents / yr, lower is better
Police-reported violent incidents, 2024-25, per 1,000 residents per year, counting incidents in residential areas in full and in mixed-use areas at half. The Calgary Police Service publishes non-domestic assaults, other violence and robberies by community, and domestic violence by police district (shared among its communities by their homes); the rest of the violent crime Statistics Canada counts for the CPS (threats, harassment and other offences) is shared in proportion to them. Domestic violence counts as at home; the share of the other incidents at home comes from where the CPS's disturbance, suspicious-person and drug calls in the neighbourhood happened. Residents are the 2021 Census population grown with Statistics Canada estimates and the homes built since. Small neighbourhoods are shrunk toward the city rate.
Source: Calgary Police Service Community Crime & Disorder; Statistics Canada Table 35-10-0183-01; City of Calgary assessment roll
Property crime near homes · 30% of Safety · per 1,000 residents / yr, lower is better
Break-ins, theft of and from vehicles, other theft, shoplifting, mischief and arson (fraud excluded), 2024-25, per 1,000 residents per year, counting incidents in residential areas in full and in mixed-use areas at half. Break-ins and vehicle crimes are the CPS's community counts; other theft, mischief and arson are Statistics Canada's citywide totals shared in proportion to each community's break-ins at homes and vehicle crimes, and shoplifting (never near home) in proportion to its break-ins and robberies at businesses. Break-ins at homes count in full and at businesses not at all. Shrunk toward the city rate.
Source: Calgary Police Service Community Crime & Disorder; Statistics Canada Table 35-10-0183-01; City of Calgary assessment roll
Injury collisions on local roads · 20% of Safety · per 10 km of road / yr, lower is better
Not available for Calgary, so Safety is scored from its other metrics.
Schools
15% of overallResults at the schools residents would most likely attend, and how far away they are.
Nearest elementary schools (PAT) · 45% of Schools · % meeting standard, higher is better
For each home, the share of enrolled students at the acceptable standard on Alberta's grade 6 Provincial Achievement Tests (all subjects pooled, 2022/23 to 2024/25) at the nearest Calgary Board of Education or Calgary Catholic elementary school with results, averaged across residents. K-4 and K-5 schools write no grade 6 tests. Results also reflect family income, not only school quality.
Source: Alberta Education Provincial Achievement Test results by school; City of Calgary Schools
Nearest junior highs (grade 9 PAT) · 20% of Schools · % meeting standard, higher is better
For each home, the share of enrolled students at the acceptable standard on Alberta's grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests (all subjects pooled, 2022/23 to 2024/25) at the nearest Calgary Board of Education or Calgary Catholic school with grade 9 (junior highs, middle and K-9 schools). Senior high diploma exams are written only by course-takers and are not used.
Source: Alberta Education Provincial Achievement Test results by school; City of Calgary Schools
Distance to an elementary school · 35% of Schools · km, lower is better
Average straight-line distance from homes to the nearest public elementary school (Calgary Board of Education, Calgary Catholic School District or FrancoSud).
Source: City of Calgary Schools; Alberta Education enrolment by school
Amenities
15% of overallShare of residents who can reach everyday destinations nearby.
Grocery store within 1 km · 25% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1 km (straight line) of a supermarket or full-service grocer.
Source: City of Calgary business licences; OpenStreetMap
Park within 400 m · 20% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 400 m of the edge of a public park (City park sites and Fish Creek Provincial Park).
Source: City of Calgary Parks Sites; OpenStreetMap
5+ places to eat within 800 m · 20% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents with at least five restaurants, cafes, bakeries or pubs within 800 m.
Source: City of Calgary business licences; OpenStreetMap
Recreation facility within 1.5 km · 15% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1.5 km of a public pool, arena, leisure centre or community association hall.
Source: City of Calgary Recreation Facilities and Community Services; OpenStreetMap
Distance to a library · 20% of Amenities · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest Calgary Public Library branch.
Source: Calgary Public Library Locations and Hours (City of Calgary open data)
Getting Around
15% of overallFrequent transit, protected bike routes, and how far homes are from downtown jobs and highways.
Peak transit service near home · 35% of Getting Around · departures / hour, higher is better
Weekday 7-9 am departures per hour within 400 m (buses, including MAX) or 800 m (CTrain), counting each route and direction once, averaged across residents.
Source: Calgary Transit GTFS
Calgary scale: the reference breakpoints × 1.17, so a typical Calgary neighbourhood (15/hr) scores like a typical one in Ottawa (13/hr).
Distance to downtown · 25% of Getting Around · km, lower is better
Average straight-line distance from homes to downtown (Stephen Avenue and 1 Street SW), the city's largest employment centre.
Source: Computed from resident locations
Protected bike route within 400 m · 25% of Getting Around · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 400 m of a physically separated bike route: the regional pathway network, protected cycle tracks and protected lanes. Painted lanes, neighbourhood greenways, shared lanes and local park paths don't count.
Source: City of Calgary Calgary Bikeways; Parks Pathways
Distance to a highway · 15% of Getting Around · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest skeletal road, the City's highest road class (Deerfoot, Stoney, Glenmore, Crowchild and Sarcee Trails, Macleod Trail, the Trans-Canada and similar routes).
Source: City of Calgary Street Centreline
Nature
10% of overallTree cover, nearby large greenspace, and parkland per resident.
Tree canopy · 35% of Nature · % coverage, higher is better
Share of land under tree canopy (trees and shrubs 2 m and taller, 2024), water excluded. The city as a whole has 10.5% by this measure; the City's target is 16% by 2060.
Source: City of Calgary Tree Canopy 2024
Large greenspace within 1 km · 35% of Nature · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1 km of a park or natural area of 4 ha or more of any ownership (Fish Creek, Nose Hill, Edworthy, the Weaselhead and river valley parks, large community parks).
Source: City of Calgary Parks Sites and Natural Areas; OpenStreetMap
Parkland nearby per 1,000 residents · 30% of Nature · ha / 1,000 residents, higher is better
Hectares of public parkland within 1 km of each home divided by the residents who share it.
Source: City of Calgary Parks Sites; OpenStreetMap
Calgary scale: the reference breakpoints × 1.38, so a typical Calgary neighbourhood (7.6) scores like a typical one in Ottawa (5.5).
Affordability
10% of overallTypical rent and home value, from one consistent source for every neighbourhood.
Typical rent · 50% of Affordability · $ / month, lower is better
2021 Census median monthly rent, scaled to today's market by one citywide factor (Rentals.ca average asking rent for Calgary, September 2026, over the City of Calgary's 2021 Census median: $1,823 / $1,350). Census figures are dissemination areas shared among communities by their homes. Subsidized units pull a census median below what a new tenant would pay, so each neighbourhood's figure adds back $14.69 per percentage point of tenants in subsidized housing (the relationship across Calgary's neighbourhoods), rebased so the citywide median is unchanged.
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census; Rentals.ca/Urbanation
Calgary scale: the reference breakpoints × 0.91, so a typical Calgary neighbourhood ($1,820) scores like a typical one in Ottawa ($2,000).
Typical home value · 50% of Affordability · $, lower is better
2021 Census median value of owned dwellings, scaled to today's market by the change in CREB's City of Calgary benchmark price for all home types from May 2021 to September 2026 ($455,200 to $566,700, +24.5%).
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census; CREB monthly housing statistics
Calgary scale: the reference breakpoints × 0.95, so a typical Calgary neighbourhood ($623,000) scores like a typical one in Ottawa ($659,000).
Health & Environment
10% of overallEmergency care, primary care, overdose burden and traffic noise.
Distance to an emergency department · 40% of Health & Environment · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest emergency department open 24/7 for adults (Foothills Medical Centre, Peter Lougheed Centre, Rockyview General Hospital, South Health Campus). The Alberta Children's Hospital (under 18) and urgent care centres don't count.
Source: Alberta Health Services
Overdose ED visits · 25% of Health & Environment · per 100K / yr, lower is better
Not available for Calgary, so Health & Environment is scored from its other metrics.
Homes next to major roads · 20% of Health & Environment · % of homes, lower is better
Share of homes (every home on the assessment roll) within 150 m of a skeletal road or 50 m of an arterial road, a standard proxy for traffic noise and air pollution exposure.
Source: City of Calgary assessment roll and Street Centreline
Distance to a family / walk-in clinic · 15% of Health & Environment · km, lower is better
Interim measure: average distance to the nearest clinic or family practice mapped in OpenStreetMap, or an Alberta Health Services urgent care centre. Alberta publishes no list of clinics with locations, so coverage is incomplete.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors; City of Calgary Community Services
Turning values into scores
Each metric is mapped to 0–100 with fixed breakpoints (shown beside each metric) and straight lines between them. Values beyond the first or last breakpoint get that breakpoint's score. Because the breakpoints are fixed, a neighbourhood's score only changes when its own data changes.
Each city has its own scale. Most metrics mean the same thing everywhere (a 500 m walk to a school, a test result, tree cover), so they share breakpoints. Metrics whose typical level is set by the city itself (collisions per kilometre of busy road, transit service, parkland per resident, rents and home prices, and overdoses, which cities count differently) are rescaled for each city: the breakpoints are multiplied by the city's median over Ottawa's, keeping the same curve. Scores compare neighbourhoods within a city, not across cities.
Counts of rare events (crime, collisions, overdoses) are noisy in small neighbourhoods. Rates are shrunk toward the city rate by adding 5,000 person-years (or 30 road-km-years for collisions) at the city average. This pulls small neighbourhoods toward the middle in both directions; large neighbourhoods barely move.
Missing data is never treated as zero. A category's score is the weighted average of the metrics that have data; if less than 70% of its weight has data, the category is left out of the overall score and the neighbourhood is flagged.
Score labels: Excellent (80+), Very good (75+), Good (65+), Fair (55+), Poor (0+). The thresholds are set so a label never contradicts a neighbourhood's tier (no “Very good” in the bottom half).
Rankings
Neighbourhoods with the same rounded score share a rank. Because reasonable people weigh categories differently, each neighbourhood also shows a likely rank range: the overall score is recomputed 500 times with every category weight multiplied by a random factor between 0.8 and 1.2, and the range covers the 10th to 90th percentile of the resulting ranks.
Tiers: Top 10%, Top 25%, Top half, Bottom half. A narrow range means the rank holds up under different weightings; a wide one means it depends on what you value.
- Balanced: The default weights. (Safety 25%, Schools 15%, Amenities 15%, Getting Around 15%, Nature 10%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 10%)
- Families: Schools, safety and parks first. (Safety 25%, Schools 25%, Amenities 10%, Getting Around 5%, Nature 15%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 10%)
- Car-free: Transit, walkable amenities and downtown access. (Safety 15%, Schools 5%, Amenities 25%, Getting Around 35%, Nature 5%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 5%)
- On a budget: Lower rent and home prices weigh most. (Safety 20%, Schools 10%, Amenities 10%, Getting Around 15%, Nature 5%, Affordability 35%, Health & Environment 5%)
- Retirees: Safety, health care and quiet nature. (Safety 25%, Amenities 20%, Getting Around 10%, Nature 15%, Affordability 5%, Health & Environment 25%)
Shown but not scored
These appear in each neighbourhood's breakdown for context but do not affect scores.
- All police-reported incidents
- Every violent and property incident above, divided by residents. Inflated in areas with many visitors, so it is shown but not scored.
- Residents used for crime rates
- 2021 Census population grown by the dwellings added since (municipal address points), estimated for the crime data period, so fast-growing suburbs are not divided by an out-of-date population.
- Break-ins and robberies at businesses
- Commercial break-ins and robberies the CPS counted in the community. Reflects business activity more than risk at home.
- Schools inside the boundary
- Count of schools located inside the neighbourhood polygon. Not scored, since children often attend schools just outside it.
- Workers commuting 60+ min
- 2021 Census. Collected during the pandemic, so shown for context only.
Known limitations
- Neighbourhoods are the City of Calgary's residential communities, the areas its own census, the police and most City data use. Fourteen small established communities with fewer than 1,000 residents in 2021 (such as Britannia, Bel-Aire, Roxboro and Eagle Ridge) are combined with the neighbouring community they share the longest boundary with, giving 185 neighbourhoods. Communities still being built in 2021 (developing suburbs such as Belmont, Homestead and Glacier Ridge, and University District) and the University of Calgary campus are not ranked, because the 2021 Census counted few or none of their residents. Industrial areas and major parks are not neighbourhoods. Census figures are Statistics Canada's 2021 dissemination areas (a few hundred residents each), shared among communities by where their homes stood on the assessment roll; median rent and home value are medians of the dissemination-area medians.
- Resident locations come from the City's property assessment roll: every house, duplex side, townhouse and condo unit is its own property, and homes in purpose-built rental buildings, co-ops and manufactured-home parks are estimated from the size of their parcel. Homes are placed on their parcel and calibrated to each dissemination area's 2021 Census households. Rates divide by the 2021 Census population grown with Statistics Canada's estimates for the city (+18.9% to July 2025), spread across neighbourhoods by the homes built since and otherwise in proportion to population.
- School test results are Alberta's Provincial Achievement Tests: the share of enrolled students at the acceptable standard, pooled over all subjects for 2022/23 to 2024/25, grade 6 for elementary schools and grade 9 for junior highs. Senior high schools write diploma exams, which only students taking each course write, so they have no score. The nearest-school measures use Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District schools; K-4 and K-5 schools have no grade 6 results, so the nearest scored elementary school can be farther away. Alberta did not give the grade 6 English and math tests in 2023/24 or the science test in 2024/25, and its acceptable standard is not comparable with other provinces' tests.
- The Calgary Police Service publishes crime by community only for its headline categories (non-domestic assault and other violence, robbery, break and enter, and thefts of and from vehicles) and domestic violence only by police district, which is shared among each district's communities by their homes. The rest of the crime Statistics Canada counts for the Calgary Police Service in 2024–25 (threats and harassment, other theft, shoplifting, mischief and arson, about half of all incidents) is shared among communities in proportion to their published incidents, so Calgary's rates are on the same scale as other cities'. Break-ins at homes and domestic violence count as near home in full and incidents at businesses not at all. The CPS doesn't locate the other incidents, so their share near home comes from where its geocoded disturbance, suspicious-person and drug calls in the neighbourhood happened (residential land on the assessment roll in full, mixed areas at half).
- Road safety is not scored for Calgary: the City publishes no locations of injury collisions (its traffic incident feed lists only incidents seen on traffic cameras), so Safety uses violent and property crime.
- Calgary has its own scale for metrics whose typical level depends on the city. Its transit runs about 1.2 times as often as Ottawa's near the typical home and it has about 1.4 times Ottawa's parkland per resident, so those scales (and rent and home prices) are set from Calgary's own neighbourhoods. Scores compare neighbourhoods within Calgary.
- Overdoses are not scored for Calgary: Alberta publishes substance-use deaths and emergency visits only for large health-planning areas covering many communities, too coarse to describe neighbourhoods. Health & Environment uses the other three measures.
- Nearest emergency counts the four adult emergency departments open 24/7 (Foothills, Peter Lougheed, Rockyview and South Health Campus); the Alberta Children's Hospital (under 18) and the urgent care centres (Sheldon M. Chumir, South Calgary) don't count. Primary care is OpenStreetMap clinics plus the two urgent care centres; Alberta publishes no list of clinics with locations, so coverage is incomplete.
- Transit counts Calgary Transit bus, MAX and CTrain service between 7 and 9 am on a weekday in October 2026. CTrain stations count within 800 m of a home and buses, including MAX rapid buses, within 400 m.
- Restaurants, cafés and grocery stores come from the City's business licences, categorized from licence types and trade names and refined with OpenStreetMap (Alberta Health Services does not publish its inspected premises with locations). Full-service grocers are supermarkets (Safeway, Sobeys, Co-op, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Save-On-Foods, Walmart, Costco, T&T and independents), one per store.
- Parks are the City's park sites (neighbourhood parks, playgrounds, sports fields, natural areas and off-leash areas; golf courses, cemeteries and non-park sites left out) plus Fish Creek Provincial Park. Large greenspace counts parks and natural areas of 4 ha or more of any ownership, such as Nose Hill, Fish Creek and the Bow and Elbow river valleys.
- Tree canopy is the City's 2024 canopy layer (trees and shrubs 2 m and taller, from aerial imagery and lidar) as a share of each neighbourhood's land, with water excluded. The city as a whole has 10.5% by this measure (the City's last published figure, 8.25%, was for 2022); its target is 16% by 2060. Calgary's semi-arid climate gives it far less canopy than eastern cities, so its canopy scores are low across the board.
- Rent and home values are 2021 Census medians scaled by one citywide factor (Rentals.ca asking rents and CREB's benchmark price for all home types), so they rank neighbourhoods consistently but are not current asking prices. Census median rent is adjusted for the share of tenants in subsidized housing.
- Calgary has no published Walk Score or Bike Score by neighbourhood. Walkability is a TopHoods index (0–100) of everyday places near home: a grocery store, the ten nearest places to eat, two cafés, a park, an elementary school and a library, each with full credit within 400 m, fading to none at 1.6 km. Bike route access is the share of residents within 400 m of a physically separated bike route (the regional pathway network, protected cycle tracks and lanes; not painted lanes, neighbourhood greenways, shared lanes or local park paths).
- Distances are straight-line, not along streets or paths.