Photo: Eric Friedebach · CC BY 3.0Merritt sits above 97% of Canadian towns for Indigenous residents (22%)
Half of Merritt’s residents are over 49.2, older than in 83% of Canadian towns. The town had about 7,190 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 2,975 households at the 2021 Census. For Merritt, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 14%. The average household has 2.3 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns.
What stands out about the people of Merritt
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
22% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 97% of Canadian towns; 13% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Many older residents
28% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 88% of Canadian towns; 6.9% are 80 or over, and 31% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A change of −1% since 2016 leaves Merritt behind 86% of Canadian towns
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across British Columbia’s towns +6%. The July 2025 estimate adds another 2%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 88% of Canadian towns, at 28%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 60–64: nearly one in ten residents. Across the comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. Lower than in 77% of Canadian towns: 9.2% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Merritt, 49.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households: 31%, a higher share than 65% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-parent families: 8.9%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns. On average, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Merritt ranks above 58% of Canadian towns on common-law partners: 12%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Nearly a quarter of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Above 53% of Canadian towns: 27% of households rent their home
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. Across Canada’s towns, renter households come to 25%. Older homes outnumber new: 18% predate 1961, 14% date from 2001 or later. The share of households in single-detached houses is 65%, against 64% across Canada’s towns.
The median household brings in $70,000 a year
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Merritt: half had less than $70,000, 19% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For British Columbia’s towns, the median household income is $87,000. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 21% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
9.6% of residents are immigrants
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 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Of the immigrants living here, 19% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Asia (46%) and in Europe (29%). On immigrants, Merritt sits lower than 65% of Canadian towns: 9.6%.
62% of residents said they have no religion, a share 97% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents make up 9.3%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. As a yardstick, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Other faiths: Sikh (2.7%).
90% have English as their mother tongue; 5.2% also speak French
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
At home: English 95%, French 0.3%. Bilingual residents are rarer here than in 72% of Canadian towns. Residents whose mother tongue is French are about as common here as across Canada’s towns, at 1.1%.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 18% in Merritt, less than in 73% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 13% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
Employment: 47% of residents 15 and over had a job
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 47% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 28% of residents are 65 or over.
The 8th oldest of 41 towns of 7,052 to 7,329 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
They run from Shannon, at 32.4, to Fairwinds, at 61.6. Closest in median age to Merritt are Yarmouth (48.8), Colborne (49.2), La Sarre (50.4) and Rhatigan Ridge (50.9).
The towns around Merritt are all older
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. Merritt has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 9–70 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt | 7,190 | — | 49.2 | 28% | 9.6% |
| Electoral Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley - North), Thompson-Nicola | 1,731 | 8.9 km | 55.6 | 31% | 7% |
| Logan Lake | 2,337 | 42.9 km | 54.4 | 33% | 10% |
| Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen | 2,372 | 58.8 km | 58.4 | 33% | 12% |
| Electoral Area J (Copper Desert Country), Thompson-Nicola | 1,958 | 67.4 km | 50.8 | 23% | 6.2% |
| Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country), Thompson-Nicola | 1,189 | 69.9 km | 55.2 | 34% | 14% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. These are self-reported answers: Indigenous identity, immigrant status, religion. The census’s “visible minority” comes from the Employment Equity Act (non-white in colour or race, Indigenous peoples aside), and the page sets each beside other towns without labelling any.
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
Questions about Merritt’s residents
Is Merritt good for families?
Under 15: 15% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 48% of households. One-parent families: 8.9%. Schools near Merritt are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Merritt?
The median household in Merritt took in $70,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Merritt?
Merritt had about 7,190 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 7,051, 1% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Merritt?
A median age of 49.2, older than 83% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 15%, and people 65 and over 28%.
Is Merritt bilingual?
5.2% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 94% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.1%.
How diverse is Merritt?
9.6% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 9.3% belong to a visible minority and 22% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Merritt?
33% are Christian and 62% have no religion; 5.3% follow another religion.
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).