Photo: William Matheson · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of Indigenous residents than 95% of Canadian towns: 18%
Children under 15: 20%, above 85% of Canadian towns. Houston is home to some 3,114 people (July 2025 estimate), in 1,275 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 16% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. With a median age of 38.8, Houston is younger than 71% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Houston
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 18% of residents, more than in 95% of Canadian towns, and 8.8% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Houston has changed by +2%, slower than 64% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across British Columbia’s towns.
Houston sits below 66% of Canadian towns for residents aged 65 and over (16%)
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
In Houston, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 11% across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 19% of residents are 65 or over. More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 7.7% of residents.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Houston, 38.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women.
Above 58% of Canadian towns: 29% of households are one person living alone
Household types, then household sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
A household here has 2.4 people on average; across Canada’s towns, 2.4. Across Canada’s towns, the share of one-person households is 27%. Locally, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families.
14% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 71% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Set against 46% across Canada’s towns, 49% of residents 15 and over are married in Houston. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
Houston sits above 58% of Canadian towns for renter households (29%)
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 nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 8.7% date from 2001 or later, 5.1% from before 1961. Elsewhere, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. 9.4% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Median gross household income: $84,000 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
At $84,000, the middle household in Houston earned close to the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across British Columbia’s towns, half of households had more than $87,000 before tax. In 2020, 28% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
9.1% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
By its share of residents without Canadian citizenship (2.8%), Houston is below 67% of Canadian towns. Most immigrants were born in Europe (47%) or in Asia (33%). A year before the census, 16% lived somewhere else: more than the typical 11% across Canada’s towns.
In Houston, 56% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 93% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
15% of residents belong to a visible minority across Canada’s towns, against 6.3% in Houston. On average, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 90%, and 2% 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
0.8% of residents have French as their mother tongue, about the same as across Canada’s towns. Bilingual residents are rarer here than in 98% of Canadian towns.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 97% of Canadian towns: 8.9%
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 13%, against 9.5%. By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 60% of residents 15 and over had a job
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 60%.
41 towns of 3,062 to 3,162 people: this is the 12th youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
They run from La Loche, at 25.6, to Valhalla, at 66. The towns whose median age is nearest to Houston’s: Blakeley (38.4), Crawford Plains (38.4), Glengarry (39.6) and Queensway Terrace North (40.2).
Houston is younger than 4 of its 5 nearest neighbours
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are. No closer places have figures: these lie 42–61 km from Houston.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 3,114 | — | 38.8 | 16% | 9.1% |
| Telkwa | 1,544 | 41.5 km | 35.6 | 13% | 9.5% |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako | 5,829 | 51.2 km | 41.2 | 17% | 11% |
| Smithers | 5,627 | 54.8 km | 39.6 | 18% | 13% |
| Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako | 1,769 | 59.7 km | 48.4 | 21% | 6.7% |
| Burns Lake | 2,007 | 61.2 km | 39.6 | 21% | 8.4% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- The census’s own words. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
Questions about Houston’s residents
What is the population of Houston?
The latest figure is an estimate: 3,114 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Houston counted 3,052, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Houston?
Half the residents are older than 38.8 and half younger, younger than 71% of Canadian towns; 20% are children under 15 and 16% are 65 or over.
Is Houston bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 2% are. Another 0.2% speak only French and 98% only English, and French is the first language of 0.8%.
How diverse is Houston?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 9.1%. A visible minority makes up 6.3% and Indigenous residents 18%.
What religion are people in Houston?
Most often Christian (41%) or no religion (56%); other religions make up 3.3%.
Is Houston good for families?
Children under 15 are 20% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 56% of households and one-parent families 8.3%. Schools near Houston are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Houston?
Median total household income in Houston was $84,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
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).