Photo: Festbock · CC BY-SA 3.0Medicine Hat sits above 74% of Canadian towns for residents with no religion (43%)
Compared with 11% across Canada’s towns, 14% of residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Some 68,714 people live in Medicine Hat, by the estimate for July 2025. One-person households: 31% of the total. More residents aged 65 and over than in 63% of Canadian towns: 21%.
Slower growth than 77% of Canadian towns: Medicine Hat changed by ±0% since 2016
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 9%. The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across Alberta’s towns +1%.
A higher share of children under 15 than 59% of Canadian towns, at 17%
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The largest age band is 60–64: 7.5% of residents. The median age in Medicine Hat is 42.4, higher than in 52% of Canadian towns. Across the comparison, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Medicine Hat, 42.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
Smaller households than 64% of Canadian towns: 2.3 people on average
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.
At 9.1%, the share of one-parent families is in line with the figure across Canada’s towns.
9.8% of residents 15 and over live common-law, below 57% 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
Singles who have never married make up a quarter of adults, beside a typical 27%. For comparison, 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Renter households: 29%, a higher share than 58% 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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys: 0.8%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns. For renter households, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 25%. 26% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 17% built before 1961.
Median household income: $78,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Medicine Hat’s median household took in $78,000 before tax, 9% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $92,200 is the median household income across Alberta’s towns. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 27% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
9.9% of residents are immigrants
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
Of the immigrants living here, 40% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Immigrants are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of Canadian towns. Across Medicine Hat, 4.5% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
Above 71% of Canadian towns: 5.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity
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, nearly one in ten residents belong to a visible minority here. The benchmark for Indigenous residents across Canada’s towns: 2.8%.
90% have English as their mother tongue; 3.7% 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
Residents whose mother tongue is French are about as common here as across Canada’s towns, at 0.9%. Against a figure of 7.5% across Canada’s towns, the share of bilingual residents in Medicine Hat comes in at 3.7%.
19% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, below 71% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 12% (typical 9.5%). Across Canada’s towns, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
A job for 55% 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. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 55% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 21% of residents are 65 or over.
Of 41 towns its size (51,739 to 91,290 people), the 21st oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
They run from Grande Prairie, at 34, to Shawinigan, at 54.4. Closest in median age to Medicine Hat are Blainville (42), St. Albert (42.4), Keswick (42.8) and Châteauguay (42.8).
Every nearby town is younger than Medicine Hat
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine Hat | 68,714 | — | 42.4 | 21% | 9.9% |
| Cypress County | 7,855 | 4.8 km | 40.8 | 15% | 8.1% |
| Redcliff | 5,916 | 10.0 km | 40.4 | 16% | 9.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
- 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.
Questions about Medicine Hat’s residents
Is Medicine Hat good for families?
Under 15: 17% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 51% of households. One-parent families: 9.1%. Schools near Medicine Hat are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Medicine Hat?
The median household in Medicine Hat took in $78,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Medicine Hat?
Medicine Hat had about 68,714 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 63,271, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Medicine Hat?
A median age of 42.4, older than 52% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 17%, and people 65 and over 21%.
Is Medicine Hat bilingual?
English and French: 3.7% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 96%. French only: 0%. French mother tongue: 0.9%.
How diverse is Medicine Hat?
9.9% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 9% belong to a visible minority and 5.2% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Medicine Hat?
53% are Christian and 43% have no religion; 4.1% follow another religion.
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).