Photo: Elviroyage · CC BY 4.0A median age of 53.6: Lunenburg is older than 92% of Canadian towns
12% of residents are under 15, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Lunenburg had about 26,862 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 11,500 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, one in ten households rent their home. Compared with other places, residents with no religion are common here: 42%, more than in 71% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Lunenburg
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Lunenburg is 53.6; 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.
Slower growth than 59% of Canadian towns: Lunenburg changed by +3% since 2016
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The July 2025 estimate adds another 5%. Across Nova Scotia’s towns the median is +2%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
Lunenburg: 29% of residents are 65 or over, above 90% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (7.8%), Lunenburg is below 92% of Canadian towns. Elsewhere, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Lunenburg, 53.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 74% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Nova Scotia’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
In Lunenburg, 6.4% of households are one-parent families, beside 8.2% across Canada’s towns. One-person households account for 26%.
In Lunenburg, 53% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 73% 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
11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns, against 13% in Lunenburg. Single and never married: 19% of adults, against a typical 27%.
92% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 92% 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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns. Against that, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. 32% of homes were built before 1961 and 16% in 2001 or later.
The median household brings in $69,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Lunenburg: half had less than $69,000, 20% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Among Nova Scotia’s towns, the typical figure is $69,100. COVID-19 benefits went to 22% of residents with an income (typical: 28%).
Residents who moved in within the year: 8.6%, a lower share than 77% 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: 1.8% here and 5.8% across Canada’s towns. Across Lunenburg, 5.7% of residents are immigrants. As a yardstick, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
3.4% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 57% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
With visible minority residents at 1.5%, Lunenburg is behind 90% of Canadian towns on that count. Across the comparison, 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
English is the mother tongue of 96%, and 6.2% speak French as well
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 99%, French 0.4%. Fewer bilingual residents than in 61% of Canadian towns: 6.2%. On residents whose mother tongue is French, 1.2% here is much the same as across Canada’s towns.
A smaller share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 70% of Canadian towns: 19%
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 14%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
48% of residents 15 and over were in work
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.
48% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 29% are 65 or more.
Of 41 towns its size (25,729 to 28,119 people), the 2nd oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Between Wellington Place (31.1) and Picton (56.8) lies the rest of the group. In age, Lunenburg keeps company with Banbury-Don Mills (48.8), Thetford Mines (53.6) and Picton (56.8).
A younger town than 2 of the 3 around it: Lunenburg
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunenburg | 26,862 | — | 53.6 | 29% | 5.7% |
| Bridgewater | 9,989 | 2.6 km | 51.6 | 30% | 6.7% |
| Mahone Bay | 1,200 | 10.9 km | 60 | 41% | 17% |
| Lunenburg | 2,523 | 15.4 km | 57.2 | 36% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- 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. For each measure we take the median of Nova Scotia’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.
Questions about Lunenburg’s residents
Is Lunenburg good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 12%. 61% of households are couple families and 6.4% one-parent families. Schools near Lunenburg are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Lunenburg?
$69,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Lunenburg (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Lunenburg?
Statistics Canada estimates 26,862 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 25,545 in Lunenburg, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Lunenburg?
53.6 is the median age, older than 92% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 12%. 65 and over: 29%.
Is Lunenburg bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 6.2% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 94% speak only English and 0% only French; 1.2% grew up with French.
How diverse is Lunenburg?
Immigrants make up 5.7% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 1.5% are members of a visible minority, and 3.4% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
What religion are people in Lunenburg?
Christian: 57%. No religion: 42%. Another religion: 1.3%.
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).