Photo: Thank you for visiting my page from Canada · CC BY 2.0Above 89% of Canadian towns: 21% of residents are under 15
The median age in Cochrane is 39.2, lower than in 69% of Canadian towns. With about 39,397 residents in July 2025, Cochrane counted 12,095 households at the 2021 Census. Here, 50% of residents said they have no religion. Recent arrivals are 41% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
What stands out about the people of Cochrane
Growing faster than most
Cochrane went from 25,853 people in 2016 to 32,199 in 2021, +25%: faster growth than in 98% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
A town of families
Children under 15 are 21% of residents, more than in 89% of Canadian towns. Households average 2.6 people, and 7.5% are one-parent families. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Cochrane’s population changed by +25% since 2016, more than in 98% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. 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%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 22%.
16% of residents are 65 or over, below 65% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
More residents are 35–39 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: nearly a tenth of the total. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Cochrane, 39.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Below 75% of Canadian towns: 21% of households are one person living alone
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.6 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. Compared with other places, one-parent families are scarce here: 7.5%, fewer than in 62% of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Above 84% of Canadian towns: 56% of residents 15 and over are married
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: a fifth of adults (typical: 27%). The wider picture: 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
Only 16% of households rent their home in Cochrane
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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: 66% date from 2001 or later, 1.4% from before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. Against that, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Compared with 64% across Canada’s towns, three in five households live in a single-detached house here.
Household income, middle of the range: $113,000 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
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Cochrane’s, at $113,000, is 31% higher. For Alberta’s towns, the median household income is $92,200. The pandemic’s benefits: 27% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Cochrane ranks above 72% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 14%
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
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 largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (53%) and in Asia (26%). Typically, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Compared with 17% across Canada’s towns, 14% of residents are immigrants here.
Above 68% of Canadian towns: 4.7% of residents have an Indigenous identity
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 15% across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents in Cochrane comes in at 8.5%. On average, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
Cochrane ranks above 58% of Canadian towns on bilingual residents: 9.1%
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Residents whose mother tongue is French are about as common here as across Canada’s towns: 2.2%. For bilingual residents, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 7.5%. At home: English 94%, French 0.9%.
Above 59% of Canadian towns: 32% 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: 4.4% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
A job for 63% of residents aged 15 and over
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment runs above the middle of Canada’s towns (58%), at 63%.
Youngest by rank: 11th of 41 towns of 36,072 to 42,989 people
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
They run from Malton, at 34.8, to Sorel-Tracy, at 53.2. Closest in median age to Cochrane are Yaletown (38.2), Sunset (38.8), Kensington-Cedar Cottage (39.6) and East Gwillimbury (39.6).
Nearby, 3 of 5 towns have older populations than Cochrane
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cochrane | 39,397 | — | 39.2 | 16% | 14% |
| Rocky View County | 50,260 | 15.2 km | 45.6 | 18% | 16% |
| Rocky Ridge | 8,419 | 16.7 km | 42.1 | 16% | 36% |
| Tuscany | 19,986 | 17.4 km | 37.8 | 8.7% | 23% |
| Royal Oak | 12,343 | 18.3 km | 38.3 | 10% | 39% |
| Valley Ridge | 7,782 | 18.4 km | 43.8 | 16% | 25% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Alberta’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
Questions about Cochrane’s residents
Is Cochrane bilingual?
9.1% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.1% speak French only and 91% English only. French is the mother tongue of 2.2%.
How diverse is Cochrane?
14% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 8.5% belong to a visible minority and 4.7% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Cochrane?
48% are Christian and 50% have no religion; 2.4% follow another religion.
Is Cochrane good for families?
Under 15: 21% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 65% of households. One-parent families: 7.5%. Schools near Cochrane are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cochrane?
The median household in Cochrane took in $113,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Cochrane?
Cochrane had about 39,397 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 32,199, 25% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Cochrane?
A median age of 39.2, younger than 69% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 21%, and people 65 and over 16%.
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).