Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Carbonear is older than 89% of Canadian towns: a median age of 51.6
14% of residents said they have no religion, against 35% across Canada’s towns. Carbonear is home to some 5,041 people (July 2025 estimate), in 2,095 households at the 2021 Census. Locally, 6.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Children under 15 are rarer here than in 81% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Carbonear
Fewer people than before
Carbonear went from 4,858 people in 2016 to 4,696 in 2021, −3%: slower growth than in 93% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Older than most towns
Carbonear’s median age is 51.6; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 29% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
From 2016 to 2021, 93% of Canadian towns grew faster than Carbonear: −3%
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 7% higher again. Across Canada’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +4%; across Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, by more than −2%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 90% of Canadian towns: 29%
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.2%, below 77% of Canadian towns. On average, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Carbonear, 51.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Carbonear sits above 86% of Canadian towns for one-parent families (11%)
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-person households: 33% here and 27% across Canada’s towns. The share of one-parent families across Canada’s towns is 8.2%. Households here average 2.2 people each.
Carbonear ranks below 69% of Canadian towns on common-law partners: 8.5%
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
A quarter of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Across Canada’s towns, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law.
Carbonear sits above 81% of Canadian towns for households in single-detached houses (85%)
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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 74% of Canadian towns. Against that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Nearly a quarter of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 19% built before 1961. Across Canada’s towns, a typical a quarter of households rent; here, 27%.
The middle household earns $56,800 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $56,800, the middle household in Carbonear earned 34% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, the typical figure is $63,600. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 26% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
2.6% of residents are immigrants
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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
Set against 17% across Canada’s towns, 2.6% of residents are immigrants in Carbonear. What’s more, the town has fewer residents without Canadian citizenship than 86% of Canadian towns, at 1.2%.
A higher share of Indigenous residents than 62% of Canadian towns, at 3.9%
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of visible minority residents is 3%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. For comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 99%, and 2.5% speak French as well
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, against 2.5% in Carbonear. Compared with other places, residents whose mother tongue is French are scarce here: 0.2%, fewer than in 99% of Canadian towns. At home: English 100%, French 0.1%.
In Carbonear, 11% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 95% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 13%, against 9.5%. Across the comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 39% of residents aged 15 and over
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 39%; 29% of residents are 65 or over.
Among 41 towns of 4,961 to 5,112 people, the 9th oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
They run from River-Osborne, at 31.6, to Northern Bruce Peninsula, at 61.6. By median age, Carbonear sits among Electoral Area F, North Okanagan (49.2), Electoral Area F, Cariboo (49.6), Bells Corners East (53.1) and Palliser (53.6).
2 in 5 nearby towns have a higher median age than Carbonear
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbonear | 5,041 | — | 51.6 | 29% | 2.6% |
| Victoria | 1,837 | 3.6 km | 51.2 | 25% | 0.9% |
| Harbour Grace | 2,872 | 5.6 km | 54 | 30% | 0.7% |
| Upper Island Cove | 1,553 | 9.6 km | 53.2 | 29% | 1.1% |
| Spaniard's Bay | 2,664 | 13.6 km | 48 | 23% | 1.1% |
| Bay Roberts | 6,407 | 16.7 km | 47.2 | 23% | 0.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Newfoundland and Labrador’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. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
Questions about Carbonear’s residents
What religion are people in Carbonear?
85% are Christian and 14% have no religion; 0.8% follow another religion.
Is Carbonear good for families?
Under 15: 13% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 50% of households. One-parent families: 11%. Schools near Carbonear are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Carbonear?
The median household in Carbonear took in $56,800 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Carbonear?
Carbonear had about 5,041 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 4,696, 3% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Carbonear?
A median age of 51.6, older than 89% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 13%, and people 65 and over 29%.
Is Carbonear bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 2.5% are. Another 0% speak only French and 98% only English, and French is the first language of 0.2%.
How diverse is Carbonear?
2.6% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 3% belong to a visible minority and 3.9% have an Indigenous identity.
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).