Photo: Nathan Schneider, aka Schnits at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Penhold is younger than 92% of Canadian towns: a median age of 34.4
The share of residents with no religion is 64%, against 35% across Canada’s towns. Fewer one-person households than in three quarters of Canadian towns: 20%. Penhold had about 3,812 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 1,325 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 6.3% of residents are immigrants locally.
What stands out about the people of Penhold
Younger than most towns
Penhold’s median age is 34.4; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 24% are under 15 and 8.3% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Penhold grew +6% from 2016 to 2021, faster than 62% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Alberta’s towns, by more than +1%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 9% higher again.
In Penhold, 8.3% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 96% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Compared with 16% across Canada’s towns, nearly a quarter of residents are under 15 here. For comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Penhold, 34.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Penhold households average 2.6 people, larger than in 67% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Compared with 8.2% across Canada’s towns, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families here.
More common-law partners than 80% of Canadian towns: 16%
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 nearly a quarter of adults, beside a typical 27%. Across Canada’s towns, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law.
Penhold ranks below 62% of Canadian towns on renter households: 20%
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
Here 69% of households live in a single-detached house, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 64%. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. On average, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. 56% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 4.2% built before 1961.
The median household brings in $98,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run high in Penhold: half had more than $98,000, 14% above the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $92,200 is the median household income across Alberta’s towns. 35% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
More residents who moved in within the year than 62% of Canadian towns: 12%
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
Most immigrants were born in Europe (56%) or in Asia (30%). Lower than in 63% of Canadian towns: 3.4% of residents are not Canadian citizens. To put it in context, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. 46% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of Indigenous residents than 77% of Canadian towns: 6.5%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here 3.6% of residents belong to a visible minority, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 15%. The usual figure: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 94%, and 3% 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
7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, against 3% in Penhold. Compared with other places, residents whose mother tongue is French are scarce here: 0.9%, fewer than in 77% of Canadian towns. At home: English 97%, French 0.3%.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 91% of Canadian towns: 12%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 13%, against 9.5%. Against that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 66%
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, below this 66%.
41 towns of 3,733 to 3,891 people: this is the 2nd youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
They run from Clareview Town Centre, at 32.1, to Georgian Bay, at 58.4. Next to Penhold on this scale come Clareview Town Centre (32.1), Cartier (35.2) and City Park (35.3).
The towns around Penhold are all older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penhold | 3,812 | — | 34.4 | 8.3% | 6.3% |
| Red Deer County | 22,076 | 4.5 km | 46 | 20% | 6.9% |
| Innisfail | 8,736 | 14.3 km | 46 | 25% | 7.3% |
| Red Deer | 115,409 | 15.8 km | 38.8 | 15% | 17% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Alberta’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
Questions about Penhold’s residents
What is the average age in Penhold?
The median age is 34.4, younger than 92% of Canadian towns. 24% are under 15 and 8.3% 65 or older.
Is Penhold bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 3% are. Another 0% speak only French and 97% only English, and French is the first language of 0.9%.
How diverse is Penhold?
Immigrants: 6.3% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 3.6%. Indigenous identity: 6.5%.
What religion are people in Penhold?
64% said they have no religion and 34% that they are Christian; 1.6% named another faith.
Is Penhold good for families?
24% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 59% of households and one-parent families 9.4%. Schools near Penhold are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Penhold?
Half of Penhold’s households had more than $98,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Penhold?
About 3,812, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 3,484 people in Penhold, 6% more than 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).