PonokaAlberta

Ponoka’s Violent Crime Severity Index, 211, runs above Alberta’s towns and Canadian towns

Violent incidents came to 30.5 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Alberta’s towns (14.2) and Canadian towns (12). Property crime runs at 84.1 per 1,000 people a year.

Flood mapping exists for Ponoka: 1 on record, latest by Government of Alberta

Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the David Thompson Regional Health Authority

Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.014 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. About as many homes carry radon around Ponoka as elsewhere, 7.5% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%.

Ponoka has cooler summers than Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns: July highs of 22.9°C

January nights fall to −17.6°C on average, lower than both Alberta’s towns (−14.7°C) and Canadian towns (−13.5°C). Gardeners get 112 frost-free days, from 22 May to 12 September. June is the wettest month, with 98 mm of rain and snow on average.

Trips to work from Ponoka are shorter than from Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns: 20 min on average

92% of commuters drove to work at the census.

Lives run shorter around Ponoka: 79.1 years, 2.4 below the typical Canadian town’s region

Measured across the Central Zone: health survey and life expectancy

For Ponoka itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.2 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. On average 19% of adults live with arthritis, diabetes or high blood pressure, higher than both Alberta’s towns (18%) and Canadian towns (17%), and at 15%, the share of adults who smoke tops the 11% for Alberta. In the health survey, 52% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Alberta’s 53%.

Buying in Ponoka takes 3.4 years of household income for the median home, fewer than the 4.7 typical across Canada

Rent took 19% of household income, below both Alberta’s towns (20%) and Canadian towns (20%). 73% of households own their home.

More of Ponoka’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns: 10%

Under 15: 18% of residents. Visible minorities make up 11% of the population, below Alberta’s towns (29%) and Canadian towns (15%) alike. Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.

What November brings in Ponoka: −11°C at night, 1°C by day

December follows at −4°C by day and −16°C by night. Expect around 20 cm of snow in November. A normal November brings 17 mm of rain and snow. ECCC’s forecast for Lacombe is on the Weather page, hour by hour.

Ponoka—Didsbury, which takes in Ponoka, is held by Blaine Calkins (Conservative Party of Canada)

Of the 37 Commons seats from Alberta, the Conservative Party of Canada holds 33.

More visits per person served than nine in ten Alberta’s town libraries: Millet Public Library counts 8.3

Millet Public Library serves 7,229 people from a single building.

From Ponoka, Pigeon Lake Provincial Park is the nearest provincial park (48 km)

100 km separate the town from Elk Island National Park, its nearest national park.

Of Ponoka’s 4 tested schools, 1 sit above the middle in Alberta and 2 below

Within 3 km of Ponoka are 1 elementary school, 1 secondary school and 2 schools for every grade, teaching 1,953 students.