Photo: Ann Baekken · CC BY 2.0Around Stellarton, 42% rate their health very good or excellent, against 52% for the typical Canadian town
The region’s 2022/2024 life expectancy is 79.3, with women at 81.5 and men at 77.1. Closer to home, a hospital is just 2.5 km from the average resident of Stellarton, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Stellarton grades C− for health, #52 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,439 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Stellarton
Smoking runs high
Around Stellarton, 14% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Shorter lives in the region
Stellarton’s region sits 2.2 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 19.2 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A heavier load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 29% report high blood pressure and 13% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
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.
Stellarton 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: #52 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,439 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.
High blood pressure for 29% 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
More adults report obesity than across Nova Scotia: 43%, the province 39%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
How the 4 health regions in Nova Scotia compare on life expectancy
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
Of the 4 health regions in Nova Scotia, 3rd 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
The index is context and never graded: it describes Stellarton’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Longer-lived than its deprivation suggests, by 1.4 years
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Stellarton’s, lies over the trend.
Deprivation explains much of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102 of them), yet Stellarton’s region beats it: 79.3 years against the 77.9 the trend gives a score of 3.8. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (7 of 10, median 78.5 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.
From Stellarton, a hospital is 2.5 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Stellarton’s own, not the region’s.
Stellarton is closer in than the provincial norm of 9.2 km in Nova Scotia, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Nova Scotia: 41% to 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
Fewer adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across Nova Scotia (44% against 48%), while 24% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Stellarton is 10th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,180 to 4,314 people, median 4.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downtown SK B+ | 4,282 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 2 | Beaupré QC A+ | 4,314 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 3 | Claresholm AB A+ | 4,242 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 8 | Port Hardy BC A− | 4,201 | 1.9 km | 54% |
| 9 | Ormstown QC A | 4,259 | 2.2 km | 55% |
| 10 | Stellarton NS C− | 4,251 | 2.5 km | 42% |
| 11 | Bruleville ON B | 4,310 | 2.5 km | 53% |
| 12 | Métabetchouan--Lac-à-la-Croix QC A+ | 4,230 | 2.6 km | 66% |
| 40 | Simonds NB D | 4,263 | 21 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Stellarton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stellarton | 2.5 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
| New Glasgow 3.7 km | 2.0 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
| Westville 4.2 km | 5.9 km | 42% | 79.3 | D |
| Trenton 6.4 km | 4.6 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B 6.9 km | 9.6 km | 42% | 79.3 | D |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C 7.9 km | 10 km | 42% | 79.3 | D |
| Pictou 14 km | 1.5 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Stellarton’s regional figures. Pictou County, Subdivision C is the furthest from care, 10 km to Stellarton’s 2.5 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- 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.
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Stellarton alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Stellarton
How healthy is Stellarton?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 21%.
What is the life expectancy in Stellarton?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 81.5 for women, 77.1 for men around Stellarton (2022/2024).
How is Stellarton’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Stellarton: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is Stellarton from a hospital?
For everyday care, Stellarton’s residents are 0.9 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).