Photo: Qyd · CC BY 2.5A larger share of residents with no religion than 89% of Canadian towns: 53%
With a median age of 37.6, Drayton Valley is younger than 79% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 8,047 for July 2025. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 15% locally. Recent arrivals are 58% of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns.
From 2016 to 2021, 72% of Canadian towns grew faster than Drayton Valley: +1%
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%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 10% higher again.
20% of residents are under 15, a share 85% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
No age band is larger than 35–39: 7.9% of residents. At 12%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 63% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Drayton Valley, 37.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
9.7% of households are one-parent families, more than in 72% of Canadian towns
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.4 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. One-parent families: 8.2% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. Across Drayton Valley, 28% of households are one person living alone.
Common-law partners: 10%, a lower share than 54% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 27% of adults (typical: 27%). On average, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
In Drayton Valley, 29% of households rent their home, more than in 57% of Canadian towns
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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
26% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 9% built before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. The share of renter households across Canada’s towns is 25%. Against a figure of 64% across Canada’s towns, the share of households in single-detached houses in Drayton Valley comes in at 63%.
Before tax, the median household income is $87,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Half of Drayton Valley’s households had a total income above $87,000 and half below, close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $92,200 is the median household income across Alberta’s towns. Pandemic benefits reached 32% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
Drayton Valley sits above 82% of Canadian towns for residents who moved in within the year (16%)
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
Immigrants: 8.1%, below 69% of Canadian towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (68%) and in Europe (19%).
8.3% of residents have an Indigenous identity, a share 83% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Compared with 15% across Canada’s towns, 10% of residents belong to a visible minority here. The share of Indigenous residents across Canada’s towns is 2.8%.
90% have English as their mother tongue; 2.1% also speak French
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
On residents whose mother tongue is French, 0.8% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns. Drayton Valley has fewer bilingual residents than 97% of Canadian towns, at 2.1%. At home: English 94%, French 0.2%.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 13%, a lower share than 88% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
62% of residents 15 and over were in work
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 62% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (7,920 to 8,183 people), the 14th youngest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The span goes from 27.4 (Taber) up to 59.2 (Haliburton Village). In age, Drayton Valley keeps company with Killarney/Glengarry (35.9), Wolseley (37.5), Labrador City (38.4) and Talbot (38.6).
A younger town than 4 of the 5 around it: Drayton Valley
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. Drayton Valley has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 2–74 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drayton Valley | 8,047 | — | 37.6 | 15% | 8.1% |
| Brazeau County | 7,685 | 2.0 km | 43.6 | 16% | 4.8% |
| Wabamun 133A | 1,005 | 48.9 km | 23.6 | 5.1% | 0% |
| Parkland County | 34,286 | 67.6 km | 45.2 | 18% | 7.5% |
| Stony Plain | 19,662 | 73.5 km | 40.8 | 20% | 7.9% |
| Lac Ste. Anne County | 12,639 | 74.3 km | 46.8 | 20% | 5.2% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- 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.
Questions about Drayton Valley’s residents
What is the average age in Drayton Valley?
37.6 is the median age, younger than 79% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 20%. 65 and over: 15%.
Is Drayton Valley bilingual?
2.1% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 98% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.8%.
How diverse is Drayton Valley?
Immigrants make up 8.1% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 10% are members of a visible minority, and 8.3% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Drayton Valley?
Christian: 44%. No religion: 53%. Another religion: 3.4%.
Is Drayton Valley good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 20%. 51% of households are couple families and 9.7% one-parent families. Schools near Drayton Valley are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Drayton Valley?
$87,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Drayton Valley (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Drayton Valley?
Statistics Canada estimates 8,047 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 7,291 in Drayton Valley, about the same as 2016.
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).