TrailBritish Columbia
A town in British Columbia, home to 8,539 people. It lies in Kootenay Boundary.
Is Trail a good place to live?
Trail’s grades pull in different directions. Police record more crime here than in most towns (C−). Health is a strength (A). Homes were valued at a median $310,000 at the 2021 census, 4.6 times the typical household’s income. Add walkability to its strengths (A−). All told, that adds up to a C− overall, better than nearly a quarter of Canadian towns. That places it #177 of 250 in British Columbia.
Figures: home values and income: Statistics Canada, Census 2021.
This town's rent is the 2021 census rent scaled to 2025 by its province's ratio of surveyed to census rents: no rental survey covers it, so its Cost Grade is less sure. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.
How Trail grades
Each subject compares Trail with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Trail stand out
The 2 things Trail does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Trail.
Trail’s grade for health: an A
Shared with the rest of the Kootenay-Boundary Health Service Delivery Area: health survey and life expectancy
Homes here are 1.7 km from a hospital on average, below both British Columbia’s towns (4.4 km) and Canadian towns (3.7 km). In the health survey, 55% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. Statistics Canada puts the region’s life expectancy at 79.5, women 82.8 and men 76.5 (2022/2024).
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Very good or excellent health | 55% | 50% | 52% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 79.5 | 81.0 | 81.5 |
| Smokers | 9.9% | 9% | 12% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
Violent crime weighs more on Trail than on British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns: a violent severity index of 118
Property crime accounts for 56 incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Violent incidents came to 20.2 per 1,000 residents a year, above both British Columbia’s towns (12.5) and Canadian towns (12).
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crime per 1,000 | 56 | 31 | 31.2 |
| Violent crime | 20.2 | 12.5 | 12 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 118 | 76 | 86 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average
Measured against local pay, Trail costs more to live in than four in five Canadian towns
Rent took 21% of household income, below British Columbia’s towns (24%) and close to Canadian towns (20%). Owners make up 69% of households.
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median home value, 2021 | $310,000 | $720,000 | $406,000 |
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 15% | 21% | 18% |
| Households owning their home | 69% | 76% | 74% |
| Rent as a share of income | 21% | 24% | 20% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · The 2021 census asked owners what their home was worth; those values, and 2020 incomes, are what this compares.
Trail has warmer summers than British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns: July afternoons reach 29.3°C
December is the snowiest month, with 47 cm on average. January nights fall to −4.0°C on average, between British Columbia’s towns (0.5°C) and Canadian towns (−13.5°C). The most precipitation falls in December: 98 mm in a normal year. Frost usually lifts by 28 April and returns around 13 October: 167 days without it.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| July afternoon high | 29.3°C | 23.1°C | 25.5°C |
| January night low | −4.0°C | 0.5°C | −13.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 120 | 60 | 159 |
| Precipitation a year | 759 mm | 1,152 mm | 883 mm |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Warfield)
Trail’s grade for schools: a C+
Taken together, Trail and its 3 km edge hold 4 elementary schools, 1 secondary school and 2 schools for every grade. One of the 7 teaches in French, against 2% of schools in British Columbia.
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenmerry Elementary Bottom fifth in British ColumbiaIn TrailElementary | Elementary | – | English public |
| Kootenay Columbia Secondary Bottom fifth in British ColumbiaIn TrailSecondary | Secondary | – | English public |
| des Sept-sommets FrenchTeaches in FrenchAll grades | All grades | – | French public |
Schools by system · Schools within 3 km
| Schools within 3 km | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| School boards | 2 | 2 | 3 |
Provincial school lists and results, 2025/26
Around Trail, 29% of tested homes have radon above the guideline
Seismic risk runs low: $0.008 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Wildfire is a moderate presence around Trail: 2.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.06% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Flood mapping: none on the national inventory of the town. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Kootenay/Boundary health region, Trail included.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 29% | 1.8% | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.008 | $0.36 | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
Commuters in Trail have a short way to work, 15 min on average, less than in both British Columbia’s towns and Canadian towns
Driving is how 86% of commuters got to work at the census.
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 15 min | 26 min | 26 min |
| Car or van | 86% | 87% | 89% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · The 2021 census was taken in May 2021, during COVID-19 restrictions: more people than usual worked from home or were off work.
More of Trail’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns: 8.9%
9.2% of residents came to Canada as immigrants, below British Columbia’s towns (12%) but above Canadian towns (6.4%). Visible minorities make up 6.6% of the population, below both British Columbia’s towns (8.6%) and Canadian towns (15%).
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
Women make up 51.8% of Trail
The 2021 census counted 4,100 women and 3,820 men here, where women make up 50.9% of Canada.
| Trail | British Columbia | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 59% | 64% | 64% |
| 65+ | 28% | 21% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 15% | 13% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 52% | 56% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; British Columbia and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
A normal November in Trail runs from −1°C to 5°C
Snow is normal by November, about 23 cm over the month. Rain and snow over a typical November come to 86 mm. Hour-by-hour figures come from ECCC’s Trail forecast, on the Weather page.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 1°C | −4°C | 253 mm |
| Spring | 15°C | 3°C | 186 mm |
| Summer | 28°C | 12°C | 140 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 4°C | 180 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Warfield); the forecast is on the Weather page
Trail sends Rob Morrison (Conservative Party of Canada) to the Commons from Columbia—Kootenay—Southern Rockies
From British Columbia come 43 MPs, 20 of them with the Liberal Party of Canada.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
At 8 visits per person served, trail & district public library is busier than four in five British Columbia’s town libraries
Trail & district public library has 2 branches for the 10,268 people it serves.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
The nearest provincial park, Beaver Creek Park, is 0.5 km from Trail
There is no national park within 100 km of the town. The protected share of the 10 km around the town is 3.5%, below British Columbia’s towns (6.7%) but above Canadian towns (2.3%). OpenStreetMap shows 2 unnamed beaches within 5 km.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 3.5% | 6.7% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 4 | 14 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
Older housing stands out in Trail: 63% predates 1961
| Heritage | Trail | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 63% | 11% | 18% |
Canadian Register of Historic Places, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel, Wikidata; Census 2021 homes by period
Everything we know about Trail
The Trail Museum & Archives and 2 more in and around Trail
From museums to parks and historic sites: Trail’s places to visit and those just beyond its edge, most famous first.
Famous people from Trail
67 notable people were born in Trail.
Photo credits
Adam Deadmarsh: Håkan Dahlström, CC BY 3.0 · Jason Bay: slgckgc on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop), CC BY 2.0 · Shawn Horcoff: Resolute, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barret Jackman: Resolute, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dallas Drake: Dan4th Nicholas, CC BY 2.0 · Craig Cunningham: Lisa Gansky, CC BY-SA 2.0
About Trail
Town in British Columbia
For Trail, TownRatings uses Statistics Canada’s census-subdivision boundary in British Columbia, and every figure on its pages covers that whole area.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 8,539 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- British Columbia
- Census division
- Kootenay Boundary
- Census subdivision
- 5905014
Trail’s neighbours
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Statistics Canada
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trail | 8,539 | — | C− | C− | C− | A |
| Warfield | 1,729 | 4.2 | — | C+ | B− | A− |
| Montrose | 1,072 | 7.8 | — | — | B− | A− |
| Rossland | 4,355 | 7.8 | A− | C− | B− | A− |
| Fruitvale | 2,068 | 11 | — | C+ | B− | B+ |
| Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary | 2,008 | 12 | — | B | B− | B+ |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary | 1,432 | 13 | — | C− | B− | A− |
People: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Distances: centre to centre.
Questions about Trail
Is Trail a young town or an old one?
The typical resident is 49.6 (Canadian towns: 45.2), with seniors at 28% of the population and under-15s at 13%.
Who are the people of Trail?
Visible minorities are 7% of the population, where the middle of Canadian towns is 15%. Immigrants make up 9%, and Indigenous people 9%.
What kind of homes are in Trail?
Single-detached houses make up 70% of the homes here, where Canadian towns sit at 64%; 0% are in high-rise apartments. 39% of households are one person, and the average is 2.
Has Trail grown?
It added people: 7,709 in 2016, 7,920 in 2021, 2.7% more, where the middle of Canadian towns grew 4.1%. Statistics Canada’s 2025 estimate is 8,539.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. 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).