Photo: Madereugeneandrew · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Blackfalds is under 31.8, younger than 98% of Canadian towns
With Indigenous residents at 6.5%, Blackfalds is ahead of 77% of Canadian towns on that count. On the census count, 18% of households are one person living alone. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 14%, more than in 73% of Canadian towns. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 12,258 residents; the 2021 Census found 3,780 households.
What stands out about the people of Blackfalds
Younger than most towns
Blackfalds’s median age is 31.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 27% are under 15 and 6.2% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Blackfalds went from 9,328 people in 2016 to 10,470 in 2021, +12%: faster growth than in 88% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +12% change since 2016: faster than 88% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 17%. Across Alberta’s towns the median is +1%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 6.2% in Blackfalds, less than in 98% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
Here 27% of residents are under 15, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 16%. Against that, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Blackfalds, 31.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
2.8 people per household, more than in 82% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
9.4% of households are one-parent families (Canada’s towns: 8.2%).
17% of residents 15 and over live common-law, a share 81% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up a quarter of adults, beside a typical 27%. Across the comparison, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
A higher share of households in single-detached houses than 61% of Canadian towns, at 72%
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. Prices, rents and shelter costs are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Owners and renters · share of households
When homes were built · share of homes
Set against 25% across Canada’s towns, just over a fifth of households rent their home in Blackfalds. Against that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 75% date from 2001 or later, 2.2% from before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Median household income: $103,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Blackfalds’s households had a total income above $103,000, 20% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The median across Alberta’s towns is $92,200. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 36% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
6.6% of residents are immigrants
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The share of immigrants trails 75% of Canadian towns: 6.6%. Most immigrants were born in Asia (35%) or in Europe (35%). Residents without Canadian citizenship are rarer here than in 62% of Canadian towns.
In Blackfalds, 61% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 97% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for visible minority residents is 6.7% in Blackfalds and 15% across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 93%, and 4.3% speak French as well
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 97%, French 0.3%. Fewer bilingual residents than in 83% of Canadian towns: 4.3%. Blackfalds sits close to the norm on residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.1%, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
In Blackfalds, 12% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 90% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 11% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 66%
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
66% of residents 15 and over have a job; across Canada’s towns the typical share is 58%.
41 towns of 11,986 to 12,523 people: this is the 1st youngest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
They run from Blackfalds, at 31.8, to Elliot Lake, at 60.4. Next to Blackfalds on this scale come The Hamptons (35.1) and Wellesley (35.2).
Every neighbour of Blackfalds has an older population
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackfalds | 12,258 | — | 31.8 | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| Lacombe County | 11,072 | 7.3 km | 44.4 | 19% | 6.1% |
| Lacombe | 14,733 | 10.6 km | 39.6 | 19% | 12% |
| Red Deer | 115,409 | 13.2 km | 38.8 | 15% | 17% |
| Bentley | 1,153 | 19.2 km | 46 | 21% | 4.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Alberta’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- The census’s own words. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
Questions about Blackfalds’s residents
How diverse is Blackfalds?
Immigrants: 6.6% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 6.7%. Indigenous identity: 6.5%.
What religion are people in Blackfalds?
61% said they have no religion and 38% that they are Christian; 1.1% named another faith.
Is Blackfalds good for families?
27% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 59% of households and one-parent families 9.4%. Schools near Blackfalds are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Blackfalds?
Half of Blackfalds’s households had more than $103,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Blackfalds?
About 12,258, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 10,470 people in Blackfalds, 12% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Blackfalds?
The median age is 31.8, younger than 98% of Canadian towns. 27% are under 15 and 6.2% 65 or older.
Is Blackfalds bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 4.3% are. Another 0.1% speak only French and 95% only English, and French is the first language of 1.1%.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population · Statistics Canada, population estimates for 1 July 2025 (table 17-10-0155). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).