For health, Somerset is ahead of 97% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 56%, ahead of the 53% for Alberta. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Somerset is well placed: 1.8 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Somerset grades A+ for health, #37 of 474 in Alberta and #141 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Somerset
Smoking runs low
The age-standardised smoking rate around Somerset is well below the typical town’s; 6.2% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Born around Somerset, a child can expect 1.5 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.7 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Self-rated health runs high
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 4.8 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 57%. Health survey ↓
Pharmacies on every corner
The average resident of Somerset can reach 9.5 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 1.1 km off. Getting care ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Somerset grades A+ for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #37 of 474 in Alberta and #141 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
17% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 6.7% diabetes
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
Obesity runs lower than in the province, at 27% of adults against 32% for Alberta.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
Longest and shortest lives among the 5 regions in Alberta
Regional life expectancy in Alberta, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Top of the 5 regions in Alberta: the lowest figure is 78.3, 4.7 years below the highest.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Somerset’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
More people rate their health highly here than in Alberta: 57% to 54%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
On mental health the region tracks Alberta, 54% very good or excellent to 52%; 23% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 1.8 km from the average home in Somerset
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Somerset’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 3.1 km for the typical town in Alberta and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Somerset is on the near side. Few clinics are listed in Alberta, so the distance to one reads longer than it is.
Hospitals and clinics: Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities. Pharmacies: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Straight-line distances from each dissemination area, weighted by its 2021 population.
Deprivation all but predicts the region’s life expectancy, which falls just short of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Somerset’s region is near the line.
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 2.3 about 83.2 years; Somerset’s region’s 83.0 is within a year of it. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (7 of 10), with a median of 82.8.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
Among 40 towns its size, Somerset is 8th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 8,304 to 8,524 people, median 3.6 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garneau AB B+ | 8,492 | 0.5 km | 51% |
| 2 | Alta Vista ON A+ | 8,387 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 3 | Valley Gardens MB B+ | 8,329 | 0.9 km | 52% |
| 6 | Old Ottawa East ON A+ | 8,308 | 1.6 km | 56% |
| 7 | Upper Cornell ON A | 8,304 | 1.8 km | 51% |
| 8 | Somerset AB A+ | 8,416 | 1.8 km | 56% |
| 9 | Saint-Vincent-de-Paul QC A | 8,352 | 2.1 km | 55% |
| 10 | Hillhurst AB A+ | 8,435 | 2.1 km | 56% |
| 40 | Muskoka Lakes ON B | 8,463 | 20 km | 54% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Somerset
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | 1.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Shawnessy 0.9 km | 1.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Bridlewood 2.0 km | 3.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Silverado 2.3 km | 3.1 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Millrise 2.4 km | 2.5 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Midnapore 2.8 km | 1.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Fish Creek Park 2.8 km | 4.1 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Somerset from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Somerset shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
Questions about health in Somerset
How healthy is Somerset?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Somerset?
Women in Somerset’s region live to 85.0 on average and men to 80.9, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Somerset’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Somerset’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How far is Somerset from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Somerset is 1.1 km from a pharmacy; clinics are too sparsely listed in the province to say.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (13-10-0972) · Statistics Canada, life expectancy 2022/2024 (13-10-0988) · Statistics Canada, health regions 2023 (82-402-X) · Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · pharmacies © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021. 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).