Photo: Michael from Calgary, AB, Canada · CC BY 2.0Children under 15: 11%, a lower share than 91% of Canadian towns
The median age in Patterson is 48.6, higher than in 82% of Canadian towns. At the 2021 Census, 4,169 people lived locally, in 1,980 households. Locally, 37% of households are one person living alone. 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns, against 33% here.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 81% of Canadian towns: 25%
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 70% of Canadian towns. By way of comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Patterson, 48.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Patterson households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 83% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
7.1% of households are one-parent families.
A smaller share of common-law partners than 69% of Canadian towns: 8.4%
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
A quarter of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). The wider picture: just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
A smaller share of households in single-detached houses than 85% of Canadian towns: 28%
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
Newer homes outnumber old: 13% date from 2001 or later, 1.3% from before 1961. The wider picture: 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, 25% of households rent their home; in Patterson, 28%.
Half above, half below $92,600 a year in household income
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Patterson had $92,600 before tax, 8% above the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Alberta’s towns, half of households had more than $92,200 before tax. Pandemic benefits reached 28% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
A higher share of residents without Canadian citizenship than 67% of Canadian towns, at 9.7%
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 40%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The share of residents who moved in within the year is 13%, against 11% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents without Canadian citizenship is 5.8%. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (52%), then in Europe (25%).
Patterson: 35% of residents belong to a visible minority, above 73% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (3.9%) and Buddhist (2%). At 38%, the share of residents with no religion is higher than in three fifths of Canadian towns. Set beside that, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority across Canada’s towns. Indigenous residents: 1.3% here and 2.8% across Canada’s towns.
7.9% of residents speak English and French, more than in 53% of Canadian towns
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
16% most often speak a language other than English or French at home, and 1.8% speak neither official language. Few places have so few residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.2% here, fewer than in 62% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, bilingual residents come to 7.5%.
Patterson sits above 89% of Canadian towns for degree holders aged 25 to 64 (54%)
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
1.7% of those aged 25 to 64 have no formal credential, where the typical town has 9.5%.
53% of residents 15 and over were in work
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
53% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 25% are 65 or more.
41 towns of 4,100 to 4,237 people: this is the 11th oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
Lake of Bays is the oldest at 58.4, Banff Trail the youngest at 31.7. Next to Patterson on this scale come Electoral Area F, Central Kootenay (47.2), Beaumaris (47.5), Electoral Area B, Cariboo (48.8) and Wildwood (49.5).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Patterson
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patterson | 4,169 | — | 48.6 | 25% | 33% |
| Coach Hill | 3,383 | 0.7 km | 44.7 | 23% | 25% |
| Strathcona Park | 8,680 | 1.4 km | 44.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Montgomery | 4,456 | 1.6 km | 39.2 | 18% | 20% |
| Wildwood | 4,177 | 1.9 km | 49.5 | 27% | 15% |
| Westgate | 3,139 | 2.0 km | 42 | 17% | 20% |
| West Springs | 11,632 | 2.2 km | 37.4 | 7.6% | 31% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Built up from dissemination areas: Statistics Canada stops at the municipality. Rounded counts are added together and medians estimated from the published groups. The 2016 areas don’t line up with these, so the change since 2016 isn’t shown.
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- The census’s own words. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
Questions about Patterson’s residents
How diverse is Patterson?
Immigrants: 33% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 35%. Indigenous identity: 1.3%.
What religion are people in Patterson?
38% said they have no religion and 51% that they are Christian; 11% named another faith.
Is Patterson good for families?
11% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 48% of households and one-parent families 7.1%. Schools near Patterson are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Patterson?
Half of Patterson’s households had more than $92,600 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Patterson?
4,169, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Patterson alone.
What is the average age in Patterson?
The median age is 48.6, older than 82% of Canadian towns. 11% are under 15 and 25% 65 or older.
Is Patterson bilingual?
English and French: 7.9% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 90%. French only: 0.1%. French mother tongue: 1.2%.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. 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).