Photo: Johntwrl · CC BY-SA 3.0Sherbrooke ranks above 89% of Canadian towns on Indigenous residents: 12%
44% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. There were 2,970 households in Sherbrooke at the 2021 Census, home to 7,131 people. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 15% in the neighbourhood. At 48%, the share of renter households is higher than in 84% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Sherbrooke
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 12% of residents, more than in 89% of Canadian towns, and 6.3% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 79% of Canadian towns, at 14%
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
The largest age band is 30–34: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns. In Sherbrooke, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Half of the neighbourhood’s residents are under 38.9, younger than in 71% of Canadian towns. Elsewhere, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sherbrooke, 38.9. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women.
34% of households are one person living alone, a share 75% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families make up 10%, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns. A household here holds 2.3 people on average. Shared houses stand out: just over one in ten households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 97% of Canadian towns. For comparison, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over: 33%, a lower share than 81% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up two in five adults, beside a typical 27%. On average, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 11% in Sherbrooke.
Only 57% of households live in a single-detached house in Sherbrooke
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
11% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. The wider picture: 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 56% predate 1961, 10% date from 2001 or later. Compared with other places, households in buildings of five or more storeys are common here: 1%, more than in just over three fifths of Canadian towns.
Median household income: $77,700 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
At $77,700, the middle household in Sherbrooke earned 10% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Alberta’s towns, the median household income is $92,200. Pandemic benefits reached 39% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
Sherbrooke: 25% of residents are immigrants, above 64% of Canadian towns
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
Compared with 5.8% across Canada’s towns, nearly one in ten residents are not Canadian citizens here. To put it in context, 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns.
More residents with no religion than 84% of Canadian towns: 48%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Compared with 15% across Canada’s towns, 28% of residents belong to a visible minority here. Across the comparison, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Other faiths: Muslim (3.2%).
English is the mother tongue of 71%, and 6.2% speak French as well
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
At home: English 81%, French 0.5%. Bilingual residents are rarer here than in just over three fifths of Canadian towns. On residents whose mother tongue is French, 1.5% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
A lower share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 54% of Canadian towns, at 25%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the other end, 13% hold no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 56% of residents 15 and over had a job
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 56% is close to the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
14th lowest median age among 41 towns of 6,991 to 7,280
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The group spans Edgeley, youngest at 31.2, to Fairwinds, oldest at 61.6. Closest in median age to Sherbrooke are Inglewood (38.7), Lymburn (38.8), Hope (39) and Lowertown East (39.1).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Sherbrooke
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
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. Some things the page can’t show: the Census Profile asks nothing about unpaid care, cars or internet access, and gives no change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted.
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Alberta’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
Questions about Sherbrooke’s residents
What is the population of Sherbrooke?
7,131, at the 2021 Census: Statistics Canada makes no later estimate for Sherbrooke alone.
What is the average age in Sherbrooke?
A median age of 38.9, younger than 71% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 16%, and people 65 and over 14%.
Is Sherbrooke bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 6.2% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 93% speak only English and 0% only French; 1.5% grew up with French.
How diverse is Sherbrooke?
25% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 28% belong to a visible minority and 12% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Sherbrooke?
43% are Christian and 48% have no religion; 8.8% follow another religion.
Is Sherbrooke good for families?
Under 15: 16% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 37% of households. One-parent families: 10%. Schools near Sherbrooke are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sherbrooke?
The median household in Sherbrooke took in $77,700 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
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).