Photo: (WT-shared) Bulliver at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 1.0Older than 94% of Canadian towns: half of Summerland is over 54.4
Set against 35% across Canada’s towns, 57% of residents said they have no religion in Summerland. The town is home to some 12,343 people (July 2025 estimate), in 5,085 households at the 2021 Census. The share of children under 15 stands at 13%. 18% of households rent their home, a lower share than in 68% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Summerland
Older than most towns
Line Summerland’s residents up by age and the one in the middle is 54.4; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 32% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A change of +4% since 2016 leaves Summerland behind 52% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. 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 2%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 95% of Canadian towns: 32%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Summerland has 7.8%. On average, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Summerland, 54.4. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Smaller households than 64% of Canadian towns: 2.3 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.
5.6% of households are one-parent families, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns. One-person households account for 27%.
In Summerland, 54% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 77% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 18% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Measured more widely, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. For Summerland, the census puts common-law partners at 10%.
Households in single-detached houses make up 72% in Summerland, more than in 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
Nearly a fifth of homes were built before 1961 and 17% in 2001 or later. For households in single-detached houses, the comparison across Canada’s towns is 64%. At 0.3%, households in buildings of five or more storeys sit close to the figure across Canada’s towns.
Household income at the median: $82,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes sit at the middle in Summerland: half had more than $82,000, near the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across British Columbia’s towns have a median of $87,000. 22% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
Summerland: 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 59% of Canadian towns
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
Most immigrants were born in Europe (65%) or in Asia (19%). As a yardstick, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. 2.9% of residents are not Canadian citizens, fewer than in 66% of Canadian towns. Of the immigrants living here, 13% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%.
More Indigenous residents than 72% of Canadian towns: 5.3%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 15% across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents in Summerland comes in at 6%. Indigenous residents make up 2.8% across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 89%, and 7.3% 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
1.3% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
In Summerland, 25% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 53% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 7.3%, beside a typical 9.5%. Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
Employment: 50% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 32% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 50% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
In its size band (12,075 to 12,605), the 7th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Blackfalds is the youngest of them at 31.8; Elliot Lake, at 60.4, the oldest. Closest in median age to Summerland are Wetaskiwin County No. 10 (48.8), Bayview Woods-Steeles (51), Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine (54.8) and Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (55.2).
Median age: 2 of the 4 towns around Summerland are older
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerland | 12,343 | — | 54.4 | 32% | 12% |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen | 2,149 | 6.7 km | 52 | 24% | 12% |
| Naramata | 2,077 | 7.5 km | 59.2 | 32% | 18% |
| Penticton 1 | 2,147 | 14.8 km | 60.8 | 42% | 0% |
| Penticton | 39,068 | 15.0 km | 52 | 30% | 13% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against British Columbia’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of British Columbia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- 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. 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.
Questions about Summerland’s residents
What is the population of Summerland?
Summerland had about 12,343 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 12,042, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Summerland?
A median age of 54.4, older than 94% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 13%, and people 65 and over 32%.
Is Summerland bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 7.3% are. Another 0% speak only French and 92% only English, and French is the first language of 1.3%.
How diverse is Summerland?
12% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 6% belong to a visible minority and 5.3% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Summerland?
41% are Christian and 57% have no religion; 2.2% follow another religion.
Is Summerland good for families?
Under 15: 13% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 57% of households. One-parent families: 5.6%. Schools near Summerland are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Summerland?
The median household in Summerland took in $82,000 in 2020, against $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).