Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainPeople in Lethbridge County’s health region live to 78.7 on average, 2.8 years short of the typical Canadian town
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Alberta, 52% against 53%. For Lethbridge County itself the measure is access, and it lags: 11 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Health gives Lethbridge County a grade of C+, #391 of 474 in Alberta and #2,092 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Lethbridge County
A long way to a pharmacy
From the average home in Lethbridge County, a pharmacy is 16 km away, a longer trip than most Canadians make for medicine. Getting care ↓
Far from a hospital
For 0% of homes in Lethbridge County the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 3.6 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Lethbridge County grades C+ 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: #391 of 474 in Alberta and #2,092 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.
The nearest hospital is 11 km from the average home in Lethbridge County
Straight-line distances from each part of Lethbridge County, weighted by who lives there.
From Lethbridge County that is further than the 3.1 km of the typical town in Alberta, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town. The centre of population is 3.6 km from a hospital, but spread-out homes take the residents’ average to 11 km. The clinic list is thin in Alberta: the facilities database holds few clinics there, so the clinic distance overstates the trip.
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 predicts more: the region falls 1.2 years short of the trend
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Lethbridge County’s lies below the line.
Where residents average 3.3 on the index, regions tend to reach 79.9 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions); the one Lethbridge County belongs to trails at 78.7. Among the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, every one does better; they centre on 81.2 years. Income would point the wrong way: households in the region’s towns earn about $83,000, more than in most regions, yet lives here are shorter than in most (across regions, income and life expectancy correlate at just 0.14).
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.
In the region, high blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (9.3%)
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
At 39%, self-reported obesity is above Alberta’s 32%.
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
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Alberta, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Among the 5 regions in Alberta, from 78.3 to 83.0 years, this one is 4th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Lethbridge County’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
About as many rate their health highly here as in Alberta: 53% and 54%
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
The region’s 53% in very good or excellent mental health is within reach of Alberta’s 52%, with 22% reporting stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Lethbridge County is 33rd of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (10,745 to 11,205 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cabbagetown-South St.James Town ON A | 11,205 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 2 | Penetanguishene ON A− | 11,141 | 0.8 km | 54% |
| 3 | Bendale South ON A | 10,885 | 0.9 km | 50% |
| 31 | Alexandria ON C+ | 10,772 | 7.5 km | 49% |
| 32 | Timberlea NS B | 11,014 | 10 km | 51% |
| 33 | Lethbridge County AB C+ | 10,988 | 11 km | 52% |
| 34 | Thornbury ON C+ | 11,162 | 12 km | 48% |
| 35 | Liverpool NS D | 10,997 | 13 km | 44% |
| 40 | Yellowhead County AB D− | 10,966 | 27 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Lethbridge County
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lethbridge County | 11 km | 52% | 78.7 | C+ |
| Picture Butte 3.8 km | 0.7 km | 52% | 78.7 | B |
| Coalhurst 15 km | 9.8 km | 52% | 78.7 | B− |
| Lethbridge 18 km | 3.8 km | 52% | 78.7 | B− |
| Coaldale 18 km | 1.2 km | 52% | 78.7 | B− |
| Nobleford 19 km | 20 km | 52% | 78.7 | C+ |
The neighbours all sit in Lethbridge County’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Picture Butte is the closest to care, 0.7 km to Lethbridge County’s 11 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Lethbridge County alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
Questions about health in Lethbridge County
What is the life expectancy in Lethbridge County?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 80.6 for women, 76.8 for men around Lethbridge County (2022/2024).
How far is Lethbridge County from a hospital?
For everyday care, Lethbridge County’s residents are 16 km from a pharmacy on average.
How is Lethbridge County’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Lethbridge County’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Lethbridge County?
The region does worse than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 19% of adults.
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).