Photo: jasonwoodhead23 · CC BY 2.010% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 87% of Canadian towns
Residents who moved in within the year make up 15%, against 11% across Canada’s towns. One-person households: 34% of the total. Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, more than in 64% of Canadian towns. Ponoka had about 8,212 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 3,085 households at the 2021 Census.
Slower than most: +1% since 2016, behind 68% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
For comparison, the median is +4% across Canada’s towns and +1% across Alberta’s towns. The July 2025 estimate adds another 12%.
18% of residents are under 15, more than in 73% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 5–9: 7% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Canada’s towns. For comparison, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. The median age in Ponoka is 41.2, lower than in 55% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Ponoka, 41.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women.
11% of households are one-parent families, a share 81% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Private households by type and size.
Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.3 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. The comparison figure for one-parent families is 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
A lower share of married residents 15 and over than 60% of Canadian towns, at 43%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 27% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Elsewhere, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. For Ponoka, the census puts common-law partners at 10%.
Renter households make up 27% in Ponoka, more than in 54% of Canadian towns
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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 are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. The usual figure: a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 23% date from 2001 or later, 21% from before 1961. Where 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns, Ponoka has 66%.
Households here have a median income of $77,000 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Ponoka’s, at $77,000, is 10% lower. For Alberta’s towns, the median household income is $92,200. The pandemic’s benefits: 27% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens, more than in 50% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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
Recent arrivals are nearly half of immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. Most immigrants were born in Asia (56%) or in Europe (31%).
In Ponoka, 44% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 77% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The census found that 11% of residents belong to a visible minority in Ponoka. On religion, 53% answered Christian and 44% no religion, against 54% and 35% across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 87%, and 2.4% speak French as well
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Little separates the share of residents whose mother tongue is French here, 0.8%, from the figure across Canada’s towns. Ponoka has fewer bilingual residents than 97% of Canadian towns, at 2.4%.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 85% of Canadian towns: 14%
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Employment: 57% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 57%, the share in work is about the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
The 21st oldest of 41 towns of 8,087 to 8,340 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest of these towns is South Pointe, at 30.5; the oldest, Haliburton Village, is at 59.2. Silverwood Heights (40.9), Kildare-Redonda (41.2), St. Norbert (41.6) and Springfield North (42.2): the towns nearest Ponoka in median age.
Of the 5 towns nearest Ponoka, 1 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page. Ponoka has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 17–25 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponoka | 8,212 | — | 41.2 | 21% | 12% |
| Samson 137 | 3,427 | 16.9 km | 25 | 5.4% | 0% |
| Ermineskin 138 | 2,359 | 21.8 km | 22.6 | 5.1% | 0% |
| Ponoka County | 10,670 | 22.5 km | 43.2 | 18% | 7.6% |
| Louis Bull 138B | 1,394 | 22.9 km | 19.4 | 3.4% | 0% |
| Lacombe | 14,733 | 24.7 km | 39.6 | 19% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Alberta’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Alberta’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
- 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.
Questions about Ponoka’s residents
How diverse is Ponoka?
Immigrants: 12% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 11%. Indigenous identity: 10%.
What religion are people in Ponoka?
44% said they have no religion and 53% that they are Christian; 3.1% named another faith.
Is Ponoka good for families?
18% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 46% of households and one-parent families 11%. Schools near Ponoka are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ponoka?
Half of Ponoka’s households had more than $77,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Ponoka?
About 8,212, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 7,331 people in Ponoka, 1% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ponoka?
The median age is 41.2, younger than 55% of Canadian towns. 18% are under 15 and 21% 65 or older.
Is Ponoka bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 2.4% are. Another 0% speak only French and 98% only English, and French is the first language of 0.8%.
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).