Photo: TravelingOtter from Houston, Texas, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Indigenous residents make up 24% in Yellowknife, more than in 98% of Canadian towns
Across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Yellowknife, 17%. Here, 43% of households rent their home. One-parent families are more common here than in 73% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 22,858 for July 2025.
What stands out about the people of Yellowknife
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
24% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 98% of Canadian towns; 14% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Yellowknife’s median age is 35.2; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 20% are under 15 and 7.8% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
From 2016 to 2021, 51% of Canadian towns grew faster than Yellowknife: +4%
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 12% higher again.
7.8% of residents are 65 or over, below 96% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The median age in Yellowknife is 35.2, lower than in 90% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, 19% of residents are 65 or over. The share of children under 15 stands at 20%. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: 9.1% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Yellowknife, 35.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
Yellowknife households average 2.7 people, larger than in 76% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
One-person households: 24% here and 27% across Canada’s towns.
Yellowknife sits above 79% of Canadian towns for common-law partners (16%)
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: just over a third of adults, against a typical 27%. The census found that two in five residents 15 and over are married in Yellowknife. Across Canada’s towns, the share of common-law partners is 11%.
44% of households live in a single-detached house, below 74% of Canadian towns
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
With households in buildings of five or more storeys at 4%, Yellowknife is ahead of 71% of Canadian towns on that count. Just over a quarter of homes were built in 2001 or later, more than the 3.6% built before 1961. Across Canada’s towns, households in single-detached houses come to 64%.
Median household income: $148,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
At $148,000, the middle household in Yellowknife out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 72%. The pandemic’s benefits: 22% of income recipients, against 28% in the typical town.
Yellowknife ranks above 58% of Canadian towns on residents without Canadian citizenship: 7.6%
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
Recent arrivals are nearly two in five immigrants (2011 to 2021), beside 27% across Canada’s towns. Most immigrants were born in Asia (55%) or in Africa (20%). As a yardstick, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns.
Yellowknife ranks above 77% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 44%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Other faiths: Muslim (3.1%). Against that, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns. Visible minority residents: 20% here and 15% across Canada’s towns.
In Yellowknife, 17% of residents speak English and French, more than in 72% 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
Set against 1.5% across Canada’s towns, 4.3% of residents have French as their mother tongue in Yellowknife. At home, 7.4% mostly speak another language; 0.5% speak neither English nor French. Across Canada’s towns, bilingual residents come to 7.5%.
Above 67% of Canadian towns: 37% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
At the bottom of the ladder, 9.2% hold no certificate of any kind, against 9.5% in the typical town. Typically, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 74% of adults
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 74% is above the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (22,141 to 23,585 people), the 4th youngest
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
The youngest of these towns is Cité-Universitaire, at 32.5; the oldest, Cobourg, is at 54.8. Closest in median age to Yellowknife are Church-Wellesley (33.8), Brownsville (34.6), Binbrook (35.5) and Brentwood (35.6).
The places around Yellowknife
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page. The one place listed is 95 km from Yellowknife, the nearest with figures.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowknife | 22,858 | — | 35.2 | 7.8% | 16% |
| Behchokò | 2,017 | 95.1 km | 28.8 | 8.9% | 1.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Canada’s towns. Northwest Territories has too few towns of 2,500 or more for a median of its own, so each figure is set beside the median of all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out).
- What these tables don’t give. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past 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.
Questions about Yellowknife’s residents
Is Yellowknife good for families?
Under 15: 20% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 51% of households. One-parent families: 9.8%. Schools near Yellowknife are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Yellowknife?
The median household in Yellowknife took in $148,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Yellowknife?
Yellowknife had about 22,858 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 20,340, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Yellowknife?
A median age of 35.2, younger than 90% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 20%, and people 65 and over 7.8%.
Is Yellowknife bilingual?
17% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.4% speak French only and 82% English only. French is the mother tongue of 4.3%.
How diverse is Yellowknife?
16% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 20% belong to a visible minority and 24% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Yellowknife?
49% are Christian and 44% have no religion; 6.9% follow another religion.
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).