Photo: Rural Health Professions Action Plan from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada · CC BY 2.0Expect 79.1 years of life in the region around Three Hills, 2.4 under the typical Canadian town
Self-rated health is ordinary for Alberta: 52% of the region’s adults say very good or excellent, the province 53%. What sets Three Hills apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.2 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Three Hills a grade of C+, #397 of 474 in Alberta and #2,121 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Three Hills
Smoking runs high
Around Three Hills, 12% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
A hospital close by
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Three Hills; from its centre of population the trip is 1.3 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Three Hills 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: #397 of 474 in Alberta and #2,121 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.
24% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 8.9% diabetes
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
More adults report obesity than across Alberta: 39%, the province 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.
The nearest hospital is 1.2 km from the average home in Three Hills
Straight-line distances from each part of Three Hills, weighted by who lives there.
Compared with 3.1 km for the typical town in Alberta and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Three Hills is on the near side. Few clinics are listed in Alberta, so the distance to one reads longer than it is.
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.
Behind regions as deprived by 0.8 years of life
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Three Hills’ region shows under the trend.
The trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a region scored 3.3 about 79.9 years of life. Three Hills’ region falls short of it, at 79.1. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it trails the majority, 9 of 10; their median is 81.2 years. Higher incomes, shorter lives: about $85,000 a household, above most regions’, with a life expectancy below most; income and lifespan correlate at only 0.14 across regions.
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.
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
The region comes 3rd of 5 in Alberta, where life expectancy runs from 78.3 to 83.0 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Three Hills’ bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health trails Alberta: 51% very good or excellent, against 54%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Asked about their mental health, 54% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Alberta it was 52%, and 22% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Three Hills is 8th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (3,439 to 3,570 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lynnwood AB B+ | 3,452 | 0.4 km | 51% |
| 2 | Beausejour MB C | 3,565 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Malartic QC B+ | 3,506 | 0.8 km | 57% |
| 6 | Saint-Pascal QC A | 3,516 | 1.1 km | 60% |
| 7 | Carman MB B | 3,547 | 1.1 km | 51% |
| 8 | Three Hills AB C+ | 3,502 | 1.2 km | 52% |
| 9 | Mackenzie BC C | 3,442 | 1.3 km | 39% |
| 10 | Guybourg QC A | 3,554 | 1.4 km | 54% |
| 40 | Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap BC C− | 3,475 | 29 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Three Hills
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Hills | 1.2 km | 52% | 79.1 | C+ |
| Kneehill County 2.1 km | 17 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
| Trochu 14 km | 0.5 km | 52% | 79.1 | B− |
Only the hospital column is local here: Three Hills and its neighbours share one health region’s survey. Kneehill County is the furthest from care, 17 km to Three Hills’ 1.2 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Three Hills shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
Questions about health in Three Hills
How is Three Hills’ Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Three Hills’ distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Three Hills?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Three Hills’ health region only: 81.7 years for women and 76.6 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Three Hills from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Three Hills is 0.7 km from a pharmacy; clinics are too sparsely listed in the province to say.
How healthy is Three Hills?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. 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).