Photo: chester902 · Public domain19% of adults smoke in the health region around Kentville, against 12% for the typical Canadian town
Across the region, 44% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Nova Scotia as a whole reaches 48%. What sets Kentville apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.7 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Kentville is C−, #42 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,385 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Kentville
Less upbeat about their health
Even once age is allowed for, 7.4 points fewer adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (42% as answered). Health survey ↓
More chronic illness
For its ages, the region carries more long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 27% of adults, diabetes for 13%. Conditions and habits ↓
Shorter lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Kentville runs 1.5 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.7 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Outliving the trend for its deprivation
Regions scoring 3.9 on the deprivation index typically live 77.8 years; Kentville’s region, at 80.0, does better. For its deprivation ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Kentville grades C− for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #42 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,385 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
The region lives 2.2 years longer than its deprivation predicts
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Kentville’s dot is marked, above the line.
Ranked from least to most deprived on Statistics Canada’s index, regions see lives shorten along the way (correlation −0.83, 102 regions). Scored 3.9, Kentville’s region would be expected to reach 77.8 years; it reaches 80.0. No region among the 10 scored most like it does better; they centre on 78.3 years.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
Self-rated health trails Nova Scotia: 42% very good or excellent, against 47%
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 47% very good or excellent against 48% for Nova Scotia; stress is a daily matter for 21%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
High blood pressure for 27% of adults in the region, diabetes for 13%
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
Obesity tracks the province: 40% of adults here, 39% across Nova Scotia.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Longest and shortest lives among the 4 regions in Nova Scotia
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Nova Scotia, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 4 health regions in Nova Scotia, 2nd place goes to this one, between a low of 78.8 and a high of 81.4.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Kentville’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
From Kentville, a hospital is 1.7 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Kentville, weighted by who lives there.
Compared with 9.2 km for the typical town in Nova Scotia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Kentville is on the near side. Few clinics are listed in Nova Scotia, so the distance to one reads longer than it is.
Hospitals and clinics: Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities. Pharmacies: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Straight-line distances from each dissemination area, weighted by its 2021 population.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Kentville comes 13th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (7,437 to 7,760 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Landsdale ON B+ | 7,681 | 0.5 km | 53% |
| 2 | University ON A | 7,595 | 0.6 km | 50% |
| 3 | Ermineskin AB B+ | 7,483 | 0.6 km | 51% |
| 11 | Blake-Jones ON A | 7,494 | 1.6 km | 50% |
| 12 | Playter Estates-Danforth ON A | 7,712 | 1.6 km | 50% |
| 13 | Kentville NS C− | 7,589 | 1.7 km | 44% |
| 14 | Clarenville NL D | 7,441 | 2.0 km | 44% |
| 15 | Altadore AB A+ | 7,675 | 2.0 km | 56% |
| 40 | Saint-Calixte QC B | 7,627 | 21 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Kentville
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentville | 1.7 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
| Kings County, Subdivision C 2.8 km | 5.6 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
| Kings County, Subdivision B 7.1 km | 5.8 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
| Wolfville 11 km | 1.2 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
| Kings County, Subdivision D 13 km | 7.1 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
| Berwick 19 km | 0.9 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
Same region, same survey: Kentville’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital. Kings County, Subdivision D is the furthest from care, 7.1 km to Kentville’s 1.7 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Kentville itself is the trip to care.
Questions about health in Kentville
How healthy is Kentville?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 20%.
How is Kentville’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Kentville’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Kentville?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Kentville’s health region only: 82.5 years for women and 77.6 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Kentville from a hospital?
Residents of Kentville have a pharmacy 1.4 km away on average, in a straight line.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (13-10-0972) · Statistics Canada, life expectancy 2022/2024 (13-10-0988) · Statistics Canada, health regions 2023 (82-402-X) · Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · pharmacies © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021. 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).