Photo: chester902 · Public domainA higher share of renter households than 80% of Canadian towns, at 45%
Residents with no religion: 47%, above 81% of Canadian towns. With about 7,589 residents in July 2025, Kentville counted 2,955 households at the 2021 Census. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 25%. The median age locally is 45.6, higher than in 71% of Canadian towns.
Faster growth than 60% of Canadian towns: Kentville changed by +6% since 2016
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Nova Scotia’s towns the median is +2%, and across Canada’s towns +4%. By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 14%.
Only 14% of residents are under 15 in Kentville
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 60–64: 7% of residents. At 12%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 70% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Kentville, 45.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Kentville: 35% of households are one person living alone, above 77% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households in Kentville hold 2.2 people on average (Canada’s towns: 2.4). Across Kentville, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families. Against that, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Fewer married residents 15 and over than 63% of Canadian towns: 42%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
27% 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. The share of common-law partners stands at 11%.
Fewer households in single-detached houses than 58% of Canadian towns: 58%
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. As a yardstick, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Older homes outnumber new: 38% predate 1961, 17% date from 2001 or later.
Half of households earn more than $68,500 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
Household incomes run lower in Kentville: half had less than $68,500, 20% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Nova Scotia’s towns, the median household income is $69,100. 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 17% in Kentville, more than in 85% of Canadian towns
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
Most recent wave: 31% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). By contrast, on immigrants, Kentville sits lower than just over four fifths of Canadian towns: 5%. The usual figure: 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Locally, 4.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
In Kentville, 4.5% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 67% of Canadian towns
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 8.9% here and 15% across Canada’s towns. On average, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
Bilingual residents make up 12% in Kentville, more than in 66% of Canadian towns
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
At home: English 96%, French 0.5%. Bilingual residents make up 7.5% across Canada’s towns. There is little gap on residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.6%, about the same as across Canada’s towns.
In Kentville, 34% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, more than in 63% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 8.8% here, 9.5% in the typical town. Measured more widely, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 54%
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 54%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 25% of residents are 65 or over.
Ranked by age, 16th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest of these towns is Ambleside, at 34.4; the oldest, Louiseville, is at 57.6. The closest ages to Kentville’s belong to Clarenville (45.2), Stoneybrook (45.4), Fairview (45.9) and Fort Frances (46.4).
Kentville and its 5 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentville | 7,589 | — | 45.6 | 25% | 5% |
| Kings County, Subdivision C | 8,994 | 2.8 km | 48.8 | 24% | 6.1% |
| Kings County, Subdivision B | 12,661 | 7.1 km | 47.2 | 22% | 4.9% |
| Wolfville | 5,587 | 11.2 km | 41.6 | 26% | 11% |
| Kings County, Subdivision D | 6,517 | 13.5 km | 52.8 | 27% | 5.7% |
| Berwick | 2,631 | 18.9 km | 56.8 | 36% | 5.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Nova Scotia’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Kentville’s residents
How diverse is Kentville?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 5%. A visible minority makes up 8.9% and Indigenous residents 4.5%.
What religion are people in Kentville?
Most often Christian (51%) or no religion (47%); other religions make up 2.6%.
Is Kentville good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 47% of households and one-parent families 9%. Schools near Kentville are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Kentville?
Median total household income in Kentville was $68,500 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Kentville?
The latest figure is an estimate: 7,589 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Kentville counted 6,630, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Kentville?
Half the residents are older than 45.6 and half younger, older than 71% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 25% are 65 or over.
Is Kentville bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 12% are. Another 0% speak only French and 88% only English, and French is the first language of 1.6%.
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).