Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0A larger share of Indigenous residents than 99% of Canadian towns: 92%
Bella Bella 1 is a First Nations reserve, home to Heiltsuk. Compared with 8.2% across Canada’s towns, 13% of households are one-parent families here. About 1,339 people lived in Bella Bella 1 in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. Here, 84% of households live in a single-detached house. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 76% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Bella Bella 1
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 92% of residents, more than in 99% of Canadian towns, and 90% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Growing faster than most
Bella Bella 1 went from 1,019 people in 2016 to 1,193 in 2021, +17%: faster growth than in 94% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Younger than most towns
The middle resident of Bella Bella 1 is 36.4; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 21% are under 15 and 15% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Bella Bella 1 grew +17% from 2016 to 2021, faster than 94% 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
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 12%. Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across British Columbia’s towns, by more than +6%.
A median age of 36.4: Bella Bella 1 is younger than 85% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Set against 16% across Canada’s towns, 21% of residents are under 15 in Bella Bella 1. In Bella Bella 1, 15% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women.
Bella Bella 1 households average 3 people, larger than in 90% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
By its share of one-person households (18%), Bella Bella 1 is below 84% of Canadian towns. Shared houses stand out: 7.7% of households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 90% of Canadian towns.
A higher share of common-law partners than 82% of Canadian towns, at 17%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
The share of married residents 15 and over trails 84% of Canadian towns: 32%. Common-law partners: 11% across Canada’s towns, for comparison.
24% of households rent their home, below 52% of Canadian towns
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. The usual figure: 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. 21% of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 3.8% built before 1961.
Household income at the median: $60,400 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Bella Bella 1’s median household took in $60,400 before tax, 30% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across British Columbia’s towns have a median of $87,000. 41% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
Residents with no religion: 66%, a higher share than 98% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns. The benchmark for residents with no religion across Canada’s towns: 35%.
English is the mother tongue of 87%, and 1.7% 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
0.4% of residents have French as their mother tongue, against 1.5% across Canada’s towns. Bilingual residents are rarer here than in 98% of Canadian towns.
In Bella Bella 1, 14% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 84% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 23% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 50%
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
50% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 15% are 65 or more.
The places around Bella Bella 1
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page. Bella Bella 1 has no close neighbour with figures; the nearest is 101 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bella Bella 1 | 1,339 | — | 36.4 | 15% | 0% |
| Bella Coola 1 | 1,037 | 100.7 km | 29.6 | 12% | 0% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A First Nations reserve. Reserves are compared with Canada’s towns but aren’t counted among them: they have no overall grade and no place in ranked lists. Census figures for small reserves are rounded, and some are suppressed.
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of British Columbia’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.
Questions about Bella Bella 1’s residents
Is Bella Bella 1 good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 21%. 44% of households are couple families and 13% one-parent families. Schools near Bella Bella 1 are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bella Bella 1?
$60,400 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Bella Bella 1 (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Bella Bella 1?
Statistics Canada estimates 1,339 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 1,193 in Bella Bella 1, 17% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Bella Bella 1?
36.4 is the median age. Under 15: 21%. 65 and over: 15%.
Is Bella Bella 1 bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 1.7% are. Another 0% speak only French and 98% only English, and French is the first language of 0.4%.
How diverse is Bella Bella 1?
Indigenous identity: 92%. Visible minority: 0%. Statistics Canada publishes no immigration figures for Bella Bella 1.
What religion are people in Bella Bella 1?
Christian: 19%. No religion: 66%. Another religion: 15%.
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).