Photo: Ferdilouw · CC BY-SA 4.0Keremeos is older than 99% of Canadian towns: a median age of 63.6
Where 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns, Keremeos has 5%. Some 1,779 people live locally, by the estimate for July 2025. Residents with no religion account for 53%. At 38%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 84% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Keremeos
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Keremeos is 63.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 47% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Since 2016, Keremeos has grown +7%, faster than 68% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across British Columbia’s towns. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 11%.
In Keremeos, 47% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 99% of Canadian towns
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 14% of residents, 2.8 times the share across Canada’s towns. In Keremeos, 6.9% of residents are under 15. By way of comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Smaller households than 94% of Canadian towns: 1.9 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families make up 4.9%, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
More married residents 15 and over than 62% of Canadian towns: 50%
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns, Keremeos has 9.7%.
21% of households rent their home, below 60% 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 nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, the share of renter households is 25%. Locally, 72% of households live in a single-detached house.
Before tax, the median household income is $53,200 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Keremeos had $53,200 before tax, 38% below 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, 15% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Keremeos sits below 80% of Canadian towns for residents who moved in within the year (8.2%)
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
Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (48%), then in the Americas (25%). 2.1% of residents are not Canadian citizens, a lower share than in 74% of Canadian towns. On average, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Across Canada’s towns, 17% of residents are immigrants; in Keremeos, 14%.
9.6% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 86% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
5.2% of residents belong to a visible minority (Canada’s towns: 15%). The wider picture: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
88% have English as their mother tongue; 3.5% also speak French
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
Compared with 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 3.5% of residents speak English and French here. 2.2% of residents have French as their mother tongue, a higher share than in 64% of Canadian towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 13%, a lower share than 89% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 15% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. As a reference point, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 36% of residents aged 15 and over
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
36% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 47% are 65 or more.
No nearby town is as old as Keremeos
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keremeos | 1,779 | — | 63.6 | 47% | 14% |
| Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen | 1,190 | 8.3 km | 50.4 | 27% | 18% |
| Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen | 2,402 | 10.6 km | 62 | 43% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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 Keremeos’s residents
What is the average age in Keremeos?
A median age of 63.6. Children under 15 make up 6.9%, and people 65 and over 47%.
Is Keremeos bilingual?
3.5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 95% English only. French is the mother tongue of 2.2%.
How diverse is Keremeos?
14% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 5.2% belong to a visible minority and 9.6% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Keremeos?
43% are Christian and 53% have no religion; 4.1% follow another religion.
Is Keremeos good for families?
Under 15: 6.9% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 50% of households. One-parent families: 4.9%. Schools near Keremeos are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Keremeos?
The median household in Keremeos took in $53,200 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Keremeos?
Keremeos had about 1,779 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 1,608, 7% more than 2016.
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).