Photo: A Disappearing Act · CC BY-SA 4.0Health in Middleton trails 86% of Canadian towns
Adults here are less upbeat about their health than the province: 44% very good or excellent, against 48% in Nova Scotia. Closer to home, a hospital is 9.7 km from the average resident of Middleton, further than the usual 3.7 km. Health gives Middleton a grade of D.
What stands out about health in Middleton
Smoking runs high
The age-standardised smoking rate around Middleton is well above the typical town’s; 16% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Less upbeat about their health
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 7.4 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 42% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Long-term conditions run high
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 ↓
Beating its deprivation on life expectancy
Set against regions as deprived (3.9), Middleton’s region gains years: 80.0 where the trend says 77.8. 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.
Middleton grades D 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.
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.
In the region, high blood pressure (27%) and diabetes (13%)
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
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.
Longer lives than deprivation would give: 2.2 years ahead of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Middleton’s region is above the line.
Across Canada’s 102 health regions, life expectancy falls as deprivation rises (correlation −0.83). For a region whose residents average 3.9 on the index, the line expects 77.8 years; Middleton’s region reaches 80.0. It outlives all 10 of its nearest neighbours on the index, whose median is 78.3.
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.
42% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in Nova Scotia (47%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental health reads like the rest of Nova Scotia: 47% against 48%, and 21% under quite a bit of stress most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting to hospital from Middleton: 9.7 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Middleton’s own, not the region’s.
Against 9.2 km for the typical town in Nova Scotia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Middleton sits near the middle. 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 4 regions in Nova Scotia
Regional life expectancy in Nova Scotia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Ranked 2nd of 4 in Nova Scotia: the regions span 78.8 to 81.4 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Middleton’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health in the places around Middleton
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleton | 9.7 km | 44% | 80.0 | D |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision C 4.3 km | 13 km | 44% | 80.0 | D |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision B 17 km | 8.1 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
Same region, same survey: Middleton’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Middleton alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
Questions about health in Middleton
How healthy is Middleton?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 20%.
How is Middleton’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Middleton has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Middleton?
For the health region that includes Middleton, women can expect 82.5 years and men 77.6 (2022/2024).
How far is Middleton from a hospital?
For everyday care, Middleton’s residents are 0.7 km from a pharmacy on average.
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).