Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Fall River ranks below 94% of Canadian towns on one-person households: 13%
9.9% of households rent their home, against 25% across Canada’s towns. The 2021 Census counted 9,214 residents in 3,235 households. On the census count, nearly a fifth of residents are under 15. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in just over four fifths of Canadian towns.
Above 80% of Canadian towns: 13% of residents are aged 15 to 24
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Half of Fall River’s residents are over 42.9, older than in 55% of Canadian towns. Set beside that, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Canada’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Fall River, 42.9. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
2.9 people per household, more than in 84% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Against a figure of 8.2% across Canada’s towns, the share of one-parent families in Fall River comes in at 5.9%.
In Fall River, 59% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 91% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
23% of adults are single and have never married; the typical town has 27%. Against that, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Common-law partners account for 11%.
91% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 90% of Canadian towns
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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
Newer homes outnumber old: 33% date from 2001 or later, 6.3% from before 1961. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. On average, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns.
Household income at the median: $134,600 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run high in Fall River: half had more than $134,600, 57% above the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The middle household across Nova Scotia’s towns has $69,100 before tax. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 23% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 9.4% in Fall River, less than in 66% of Canadian towns
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
Residents without Canadian citizenship: 3.6% here and 5.8% across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. In Fall River, nearly one in ten residents are immigrants.
Residents with no religion: 39%, a higher share than 64% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The share of visible minority residents is 2.8%, against 15% across Canada’s towns. The census found that 3.4% of residents have an Indigenous identity in Fall River. Against that, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Bilingual residents make up 15% in Fall River, more than in 70% of Canadian towns
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 98%, French 0.6%. The benchmark for bilingual residents across Canada’s towns: 7.5%. Fall River has more residents whose mother tongue is French than nearly two thirds of Canadian towns, at 2.3%.
Fall River: 45% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, above 79% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Employment: 64% of residents 15 and over had a job
The census was taken in May 2021, during the pandemic, so these rates show a labour market still recovering. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
64% of residents 15 and over have a job; across Canada’s towns the typical share is 58%.
Of 41 towns its size (9,037 to 9,387 people), the 15th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Vankleek Hill is the oldest at 52.4, Hampton Village the youngest at 32.3. The closest ages to Fall River’s belong to Saint-Robert (42), Beaver Bank (42), Portugal Cove-St. Philip's (43.2) and Sundance (43.9).
2 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Fall River
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall River | 9,214 | — | 42.9 | 13% | 8.4% |
| Beaver Bank | 9,157 | 4.7 km | 42 | 15% | 4.2% |
| Lower Sackville | 20,171 | 6.9 km | 43.6 | 19% | 4.7% |
| Middle Sackville | 14,898 | 8.2 km | 39.9 | 13% | 5.5% |
| Dutch Settlement | 6,234 | 9.1 km | 45.4 | 17% | 4.2% |
| Bedford | 28,848 | 12.0 km | 41.3 | 19% | 19% |
| Hammonds Plains | 13,844 | 15.6 km | 42 | 12% | 7.8% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
- Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. Two medians frame each figure: one for Nova Scotia’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. The figures sum the neighbourhood’s dissemination areas, since the census is published for municipalities only. Medians are estimated from the age and income groups, counts carry Statistics Canada’s rounding, and no 2016 count matches these boundaries.
- 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.
Questions about Fall River’s residents
What is the median income in Fall River?
Median total household income in Fall River was $134,600 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Fall River?
The 2021 Census counted 9,214 people in Fall River.
What is the average age in Fall River?
Half the residents are older than 42.9 and half younger, older than 55% of Canadian towns; 19% are children under 15 and 13% are 65 or over.
Is Fall River bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 15% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 85% speak only English and 0% only French; 2.3% grew up with French.
How diverse is Fall River?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 8.4%. A visible minority makes up 2.8% and Indigenous residents 3.4%.
What religion are people in Fall River?
Most often Christian (59%) or no religion (39%); other religions make up 1.9%.
Is Fall River good for families?
Children under 15 are 19% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 72% of households and one-parent families 5.9%. Schools near Fall River are on its Schools page.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. 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).