Photo: Rural Health Professions Action Plan from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada · CC BY 2.023% of residents are under 15, a share 93% of Canadian towns don’t reach
14% of households rent their home; across Canada’s towns the figure is 25%. Carstairs had about 5,248 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 1,835 households at the 2021 Census. The share of residents with no religion stands at 56%. With a median age of 39.6, Carstairs is younger than nearly two thirds of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Carstairs
A town of families
Children under 15 are 23% of residents, more than in 93% of Canadian towns. Households average 2.7 people, and 6.3% are one-parent families. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Carstairs went from 4,077 to 4,898 residents (+20%), faster growth than in 96% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Carstairs has grown +20%, faster than 96% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, the typical town changed +4%; across Alberta’s towns, +1%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 7% higher again.
8.7% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 84% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 10–14: nearly one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 18%.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Carstairs, 39.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
In Carstairs, 20% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 75% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
8.2% of households are one-parent families across Canada’s towns, against 6.3% in Carstairs. By way of comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. Each household has 2.7 people on average.
Carstairs ranks above 85% of Canadian towns on married residents 15 and over: 57%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: nearly a fifth of adults, against a typical 27%. As a yardstick, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. For Carstairs, the census puts common-law partners at 11%.
Households in single-detached houses make up 80% in Carstairs, more than in 73% of Canadian towns
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. 56% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 7.6% built before 1961. Typically, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
A median household income of $99,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Carstairs’s households had a total income above $99,000, 15% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Alberta’s towns the median is $92,200. 26% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
5.9% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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
Recent arrivals are 16% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. Locally, 2.2% of residents are not Canadian citizens. Fewer immigrants than in 78% of Canadian towns: 5.9%.
A higher share of Indigenous residents than 73% of Canadian towns, at 5.6%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of visible minority residents is 3.6%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. For Indigenous residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 2.8%.
93% have English as their mother tongue; 3.5% also speak French
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, against 3.5% in Carstairs. Here, 1.1% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
Below 88% of Canadian towns: 13% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 9% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
59% of residents 15 and over were in work
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
59% of residents 15 and over have a job, in line with the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Youngest by rank: 20th of 41 towns of 5,167 to 5,319 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest is Rundle Heights (32.9) and the oldest Oliver (58). By median age, Carstairs sits among Edmonton Energy And Technology Park (39.2), Gourley (39.5), Uplands (40.3) and Saint-Denis-de-Brompton (41.2).
Older than Carstairs: 1 of the 2 towns nearby
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carstairs | 5,248 | — | 39.6 | 18% | 5.9% |
| Didsbury | 5,185 | 11.6 km | 45.2 | 24% | 7.9% |
| Crossfield | 4,075 | 14.6 km | 38.4 | 13% | 7.4% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- 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.
Questions about Carstairs’s residents
What religion are people in Carstairs?
44% are Christian and 56% have no religion; 0.7% follow another religion.
Is Carstairs good for families?
Under 15: 23% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 64% of households. One-parent families: 6.3%. Schools near Carstairs are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Carstairs?
The median household in Carstairs took in $99,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Carstairs?
Carstairs had about 5,248 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 4,898, 20% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Carstairs?
A median age of 39.6, younger than 66% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 23%, and people 65 and over 18%.
Is Carstairs bilingual?
3.5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.1% speak French only and 96% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.1%.
How diverse is Carstairs?
5.9% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 3.6% belong to a visible minority and 5.6% have an Indigenous identity.
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).