Photo: Jason Woodhead · CC BY 2.0In Bow Island, 17% of households can’t afford a home that is big enough and in good repair (Alberta’s towns: 8%)
By the 2021 census, half of owned homes were worth more than $262,000; the average was $288,000. Owners gave those values at the May 2021 census; they are estimates, and older than today’s prices. There is no public record of sale prices in Alberta, which leaves the census value as the guide for Bow Island.
What Bow Island’s homes are worth, two ways
Two sources, each set against Alberta’s towns only: provinces measure value differently, so they don’t line up across borders.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $288K
- Owners
- 470
- Alberta’s towns
- $400K
- The typical Canadian town
- $406K
all residential
- Alberta’s towns
- $297K
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada); Canadian Housing Statistics Program, tables 46-10-0099 and 46-10-0093; Québec rôle d’évaluation foncière 2026 (MAMH).
A detached house in Bow Island is assessed 33% lower than across Alberta’s towns
Detached houses account for 90% of the 685 properties on Bow Island’s 2024 roll.
Median assessment by type, 2024 the tick is the median of Alberta’s towns
Canadian Housing Statistics Program, table 46-10-0093 (2024): residential properties on the assessment roll, vacant land left out. The ticks are the median of Alberta’s towns with their own figure; assessments compare within a province only.
Bow Island’s homes: when they went up and what they are
Of the 670 homes people lived in across Bow Island at the 2021 census, 83% were single-detached houses. At least half predate 1981.
Homes by period of construction the tick is the median of Alberta’s towns
Homes by kind
| Bow Island | Alberta | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | 4% | 15% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 8% | 5% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 17% | 8% | 7% |
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada): occupied private dwellings; core housing need as Statistics Canada defines it. Ticks and columns are medians of the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more.
5.1 new homes a year per 1,000 in Bow Island: fewer than Alberta’s towns (7.5)
Some 5 homes a year: 29 in all were permitted in Bow Island from 2018 to 2023. Houses dominate the permits, at 88% in single-unit buildings (Alberta’s towns: 69%).
Most in 2018: 12 new homes
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
Statistics Canada, tables 46-10-0087 (building permits by census subdivision, 2018–2023: dwelling units created, new construction and conversions) and 34-10-0292 (monthly, metro areas). Per 1,000: units a year over 2019–2023 against occupied homes in 2021.
Bow Island is 35% below the $400,000 median of Alberta’s towns
The census values of Alberta’s towns, 478 of them with 2,500+ people, from dearest to cheapest.
Census 2021, owners’ estimates; towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, no city as a whole, no reserve.
Home values around Bow Island
Next to Bow Island: 2021 census values and the share of owners. Distances here run 22–54 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Bow Island.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow Island | $262K | $288K | 70% | |
| Forty Mile County No. 8 | $278K | $340K | 81% | 22 |
| Redcliff | $270K | $288K | 77% | 48.3 |
| Cypress County | $500K | $525K | 88% | 50.9 |
| Taber | $376K | $403K | 77% | 53.6 |
| Medicine Hat | $300K | $320K | 71% | 53.8 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in Bow Island
Is Bow Island expensive for Alberta?
On census values, Bow Island sits among the cheaper of Alberta’s towns (median $400,000).
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · Statistics Canada, Canadian Housing Statistics Program · Statistics Canada, building permits (tables 46-10-0087 and 34-10-0292). 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).