Photo: GerthMichael · CC BY-SA 3.0Very good or excellent health for 52% of adults in Princeton’s health region
For 2022/2024, the region’s figure is 81.0 years at birth, 84.1 for women and 78.2 for men. Closer to home, a hospital is just 0.8 km from the average resident of Princeton, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Health gives Princeton a grade of B+, #138 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,236 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Princeton
Shorter lives than its deprivation predicts
Regions scoring 2.5 on the deprivation index typically live 82.9 years; Princeton’s region, at 81.0, falls short. For its deprivation ↓
A hospital close by
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Princeton; from its centre of population the trip is 0.6 km. Getting care ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Princeton grades B+ 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: #138 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,236 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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.9 years short of the trend
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Princeton’s region shows under the trend.
Use the deprivation index alone and Princeton’s region, at 2.5, should live about 82.9 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 81.0. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and 9 still live longer, with 82.9 years in the middle. On income alone, around $81,000 a household, this region would be expected to fare worse than most, yet it lives longer; between regions the link is weak (0.14).
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.
Getting to hospital from Princeton: 0.8 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Princeton’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Princeton is on the near side.
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.
23% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 6.9% diabetes
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
Self-reported obesity, 28%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 25% to the province’s 19%.
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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 16 regions in British Columbia
Regional life expectancy in British Columbia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 7th place goes to this one, between a low of 76.6 and a high of 86.8.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Princeton’s residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
51% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to British Columbia (50%)
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
About as many adults report very good or excellent mental health as across British Columbia (48% against 49%), while 26% call 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, Princeton is 2nd nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 3,004 to 3,094 people, median 4.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tisdale SK C− | 3,052 | 0.7 km | 47% |
| 2 | Princeton BC B+ | 3,050 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 3 | Leslie Park - Bruce Farm ON A+ | 3,056 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 4 | Dewdney Place SK B+ | 3,021 | 0.9 km | 49% |
| 40 | Elkford BC B− | 3,030 | 55 km | 57% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Princeton shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
Questions about health in Princeton
How is Princeton’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Princeton has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Princeton from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Princeton is 63 km from a clinic and 1.0 km from a pharmacy.
What is the life expectancy in Princeton?
For the health region that includes Princeton, women can expect 84.1 years and men 78.2 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Princeton?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
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).