Yellowknife · TravelingOtter from Houston, Texas, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0The Northwest Territories, subject by subject
At 6th of 13, The Northwest Territories sits mid-table among Canada’s provinces and territories, strongest on cost of living and weakest on health.
Each subject puts a figure for the whole province, averaged over all its residents, beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
12th of 13D8/100 Near the foot of Canada’s provinces and territories on safety. Too few of its towns are graded to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the province’s own figure, which sits on the weaker side.
Violent crime’s part of the index: 486.4 (Canada 95.5), 12th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, 2023 to 2025, each place given the index of the force or detachment that serves it and averaged over the province’s residents.
The Northwest Territories has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Schools
Not gradedNot graded. There isn’t enough published data to grade schools here.
Cost of living
2nd of 13A92/100 Near the top of Canada’s provinces and territories for cost of living. Too few of its towns are graded to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the province’s own figure, which sits on the stronger side.
A year’s rent against household income: 16% (Canada 23%), 2nd of 13.
Owners’ median home value, 2021: $379,000 (Canada $585,000), 9th of 13.
Monthly rent: $1,724 (Canada $1,599), 11th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (owners’ home values, household income); CMHC rents, or the census rent scaled to them; each place’s ratio averaged over the province’s residents.
The Northwest Territories has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Health
12th of 13D8/100 Near the foot of Canada’s provinces and territories on health. The whole-province figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Life expectancy at birth: 76.4 years (Canada 82.2), 12th of 13.
Smoke, daily or occasionally (age-standardized): 25% (Canada 11%), 12th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey and life tables by health region, averaged over the province’s residents.
The Northwest Territories has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Jobs & income
2nd of 13A92/100 Near the top of Canada’s provinces and territories for jobs and income. The province’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is better than most.
In work, aged 15 to 64: 76% (Canada 72%), 4th of 13.
Unemployment, 2021 census: 7.6% (Canada 10.4%), 3rd of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (household income, employment, unemployment), averaged over the province’s residents.
The Northwest Territories has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Getting about
2nd of 13A92/100 Near the top of Canada’s provinces and territories for getting about. The province’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is better than most.
Drive or are driven to work: 74% (Canada 83%).
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021, main mode of commuting, averaged over the province’s residents.
The Northwest Territories has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Hazards
6th of 13B63/100 Ahead of most provinces and territories on hazards. The province’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is better than most.
Building value lost to earthquakes in a typical year, per $1,000: 0.0 (Canada 0.1), 4th of 13.
Source: Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes; Natural Resources Canada, Probabilistic Seismic Risk Model; averaged over the province’s residents.
The Northwest Territories has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Growth
11th of 13D13/100 Near the foot of Canada’s provinces and territories on growth. The whole-province figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Source: Statistics Canada, population estimates (July 1) against the 2021 census, summed over the province’s places.
The Northwest Territories has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
The Northwest Territories beside its neighbours
| Northwest Territories | Yukon | British Columbia | Alberta | Saskatchewan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | B 586th of 13 | A− 754th of 13 | C 2510th of 13 | A 922nd of 13 | C− 1711th of 13 |
| Safety | D 812th official | C− 1711th official | B 588th official · 12% in top towns | B− 507th official · 8% in top towns | C 2510th official · 4% in top towns |
| Schools | Not graded | Not graded | D− 0 · 16% in top towns | A+ 100 · 34% in top towns | Not graded |
| Cost of living | A 923rd official | C+ 4210th official | D− 013th official · 3% in top towns | C 259th official · 43% in top towns | B+ 676th official · 58% in top towns |
| Health | D 812th official | B+ 672nd official | A− 758th official · 33% in top towns | A 923rd official · 37% in top towns | C 259th official · 0% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A 921st official | A+ 1003rd official | B+ 676th official · 34% in top towns | B 584th official · 32% in top towns | A− 837th official · 65% in top towns |
| Getting about | A 922nd official | B− 546th official | A− 833rd official · 36% in top towns | C 338th official · 13% in top towns | C 2510th official · 9% in top towns |
| Hazards | B 636th official | D 812th official | B− 503rd official · 3% in top towns | B 637th official · 44% in top towns | C+ 4210th official · 51% in top towns |
| Growth | D 1311th official | A+ 1001st official | A− 835th official · 38% in top towns | B+ 673rd official · 20% in top towns | C+ 386th official · 8% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the province’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for Canada. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is a figure for the whole province: every place with a page, towns, reserves and cities together, each counted by the people living in it, so it speaks for almost everyone in the province. It is ranked against Canada’s other provinces and territories. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the province’s graded places of 2,500+, the share whose place is in Canada’s top quarter on the subject.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the province’s standing among Canada’s 13 provinces and territories: the two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best province, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs and income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, hazards 4 (out of 100), over the subjects a province has. Provinces and territories with fewer than 5 graded towns are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A province figure averages everyone, so it can’t show whether a province is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Schools have no province figure: each province writes its own tests, and only Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta publish results school by school, so only their towns carry a Schools measure. Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have too few graded places for the town measure, so their cards rest on the province figure. First Nations reserves are in no ranking, the town measure included. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Canadian towns against each other only, run #73 of 10 November 2026 · Province figures: each place with a page (every census subdivision of 1,000+, 98% of Canadians) weighted by its people; Statistics Canada, CMHC, Health Canada and Natural Resources Canada data, as each subject’s source line says. 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).