Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOlder than 95% of Canadian towns: half of Chester is over 55.6
Compared with 11% across Canada’s towns, 7.5% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. On the census count, 88% of households live in a single-detached house. Nearly a third of households are one person living alone, a higher share than in 67% of Canadian towns. With about 11,740 residents in July 2025, Chester counted 5,030 households at the 2021 Census.
What stands out about the people of Chester
Older than most towns
Half of Chester’s residents are under 55.6 and half over; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 31% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Chester changed by +4% from 2016 to 2021, slower than 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 10%.
31% of residents are 65 or over, a share 93% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Across Canada’s towns, 16% of residents are under 15; in Chester, 12%. For comparison, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Chester, 55.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Smaller households than 83% of Canadian towns: 2.1 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
On the census count, 7.6% of households are one-parent families.
Chester ranks above 71% of Canadian towns on common-law partners: 14%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
A fifth of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). As a reference point, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Renter households make up 17% in Chester, less than in 71% of Canadian towns
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
Nearly one in ten homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. 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%.
The median household brings in $64,500 a year
Incomes here are for 2020, the year before the census, CERB and other pandemic benefits included. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Chester’s median household took in $64,500 before tax, 25% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). $69,100 is the median household income across Nova Scotia’s towns. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 22% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Below 71% of Canadian towns: 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
With residents without Canadian citizenship at 2%, Chester is behind three quarters of Canadian towns on that count. On average, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. In Chester, 4.8% of residents are immigrants.
Chester: 5.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity, above 71% of Canadian towns
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
1.5% of residents belong to a visible minority, against 15% across Canada’s towns. Against that, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns. Residents with no religion: two fifths of the total.
English is the mother tongue of 96%, and 5.6% speak French as well
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
Set against 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 5.6% of residents speak English and French in Chester. Locally, 1.1% of residents have French as their mother tongue.
In Chester, 23% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 60% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate at all: 13%, against 9.5%. As a reference point, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
45% of residents 15 and over were in work
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
With 31% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 45% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
The 2nd oldest of 41 towns of 11,491 to 12,018 people
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest of these towns is Cityscape, at 31.5; the oldest, Sechelt, is at 57.6. In age, Chester keeps company with Mont-Tremblant (53.6), Ramara (54.4) and Sechelt (57.6).
Older than Chester: 2 of the 3 towns nearby
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. The nearest places to Chester with figures are 18–28 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 11,740 | — | 55.6 | 31% | 4.8% |
| Mahone Bay | 1,200 | 18.5 km | 60 | 41% | 17% |
| Lunenburg | 2,523 | 23.9 km | 57.2 | 36% | 12% |
| Lunenburg | 26,862 | 28.5 km | 53.6 | 29% | 5.7% |
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. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns of 2,500 or more comes first, the middle of all Canadian towns second; cities as a whole and First Nations reserves stay out, and percentiles are within Canada.
Questions about Chester’s residents
Is Chester bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 5.6% are. Another 0% speak only French and 94% only English, and French is the first language of 1.1%.
How diverse is Chester?
Immigrants make up 4.8% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 1.5% are members of a visible minority, and 5.2% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Chester?
Christian: 58%. No religion: 40%. Another religion: 1.5%.
Is Chester good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 12%. 55% of households are couple families and 7.6% one-parent families. Schools near Chester are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Chester?
$64,500 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Chester (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Chester?
Statistics Canada estimates 11,740 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 10,693 in Chester, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Chester?
55.6 is the median age, older than 95% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 12%. 65 and over: 31%.
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).