KugluktukNunavut
Some 1,529 people live in this town, in Nunavut. It shrank by 7% between the 2016 and 2021 censuses.
Is Kugluktuk a good place to live?
Where it does best is hazard risk (A+). Getting around on foot or by bus is easy (A). Health outcomes fall short of most towns (D−). The typical owner put their home at $234,000 in 2021: 2.8 years of the median household’s income. Police record more crime here than in most towns (D−).
Figures: home values and income: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Canadian towns get an overall grade from 2,500 residents, so Kugluktuk has subject grades only.
This town's rent is the 2021 census rent scaled to 2025 by its province's ratio of surveyed to census rents: no rental survey covers it, so its Cost Grade is less sure. No Cost Grade: fewer than 30% of households own their home here, so neither the home value nor the rent is a market price. Safety is the police detachment's figure, shared with the towns and countryside around it. No School Grade: this province doesn't publish comparable results school by school. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.
How Kugluktuk grades
Each subject compares Kugluktuk with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Canadian towns get an overall grade from 2,500 residents, so Kugluktuk has subject grades only.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Kugluktuk stand out
The 3 things Kugluktuk does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kugluktuk.
Few places are as safe from hazards as Kugluktuk: it beats almost every Canadian town
Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.004 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). No flood study for Kugluktuk is on the national inventory.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 0% | – | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.004 | – | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
Health in Kugluktuk trails almost every Canadian town
Health survey and life expectancy for the Nunavut health region
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Nunavut, 39% against 39%. Smoking takes in 63% of adults, age-standardised, above Canadian towns (12%). Across the region, life runs to 70.9 years on average: women 72.4, men 69.4, in 2022/2024. Closer to home, a hospital is 434 km from the average resident of Kugluktuk, and 100% live more than 30 km away.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very good or excellent health | 39% | – | 52% |
| Smokers | 63% | – | 12% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 70.9 | – | 81.5 |
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 20% | – | 17% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
The force covering Kugluktuk records more serious violence than Canadian towns, at 1,108
For every 1,000 residents of its police area, 422.9 property crimes are reported each year. The index for the force that serves it came to 678, above Canadian towns (67). In addition, the force’s area logs 276.3 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Severity Index | 678 | – | 67 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 1,108 | – | 86 |
| Violent crime | 276.3 | – | 12 |
| Property crime per 1,000 | 422.9 | – | 31.2 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average · Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000 published for the Kugluktuk detachment area, not by town
Kugluktuk’s teenagers travel 552 km to the nearest high school
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kugluktuk High SchoolIn KugluktukElementary | Elementary | – | English public |
| Schools within 3 km | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest secondary school | 552 km | – | 1.2 km |
| Nearest elementary school | 552 km | – | 0.5 km |
Statistics Canada’s Open Database of Educational Facilities · Ungraded on schools in Nunavut, because the province publishes no results school by school.
Winter nights bite in Kugluktuk: January lows of −30.7°C, colder than Canadian towns
The frost-free season runs from 19 June to 26 August, 67 days. The thermometer drops below freezing on 266 days a year, higher than Canadian towns (159). Expect July highs of around 15.8°C in Kugluktuk. Snow peaks in October: 38 cm in a normal year.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| July afternoon high | 15.8°C | – | 25.5°C |
| January night low | −30.7°C | – | −13.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 266 | – | 159 |
| Precipitation a year | 233 mm | – | 883 mm |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Kugluktuk)
Fewer households own their home in Kugluktuk than in Canadian towns: 20%
5% of households spent 30% or more of their income on shelter, lower than Canadian towns (18%). A year’s rent came to 3% of the median household income, below Canadian towns (20%).
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent as a share of income | 3% | – | 20% |
| Households owning their home | 20% | – | 74% |
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 5% | – | 18% |
| Median home value, 2021 | $234,000 | – | $406,000 |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · Home values are owners’ own estimates at the May 2021 census, and incomes are for 2020.
More of Kugluktuk’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in Canadian towns: 90%
Visible minorities make up 1.1% of the population, lower than Canadian towns (15%).
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
Women make up 48.7% of Kugluktuk
675 women and 710 men at the 2021 census; across Canada, women are 50.9%.
| Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 32% | – | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 62% | – | 64% |
| 65+ | 6.1% | – | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 60% | – | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 23% | – | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Nunavut and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
The car carries only 42% of commuters in Kugluktuk, fewer than in Canadian towns
The average trip to work took 9 min, below Canadian towns (26 min).
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car or van | 42% | – | 89% |
| Average trip | 9 min | – | 26 min |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so commuting and work figures carry the lockdowns’ mark.
Kugluktuk in November: highs near −13°C, lows near −21°C
Expect around 28 cm of snow in November. Next comes December, with normal highs of −20°C and lows of −28°C. In November, the normal is 11 mm of rain and snow. At the extremes, July afternoons reach 16°C and February nights −31°C.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −22°C | −30°C | 27 mm |
| Spring | −11°C | −20°C | 32 mm |
| Summer | 13°C | 4°C | 105 mm |
| Autumn | −3°C | −10°C | 70 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Kugluktuk); the forecast is on the Weather page
Nunavut turned out at 34% in 2021, lower than 99% of Canada’s ridings
Without an open map of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut’s ridings, this page can’t say which one Kugluktuk is in.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
No public library is mapped in or near Kugluktuk
Visits and loans aren’t published as open data in Nunavut, so this page has none for Kugluktuk.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
Little of the land around Kugluktuk is protected: 0.4% within 10 km
Within 100 km there is no national park. One protected area is close by.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 0.4% | – | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 0 | – | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
Kugluktuk: 1 historic place, with the highest designation
At the 2021 census, 6.2% of homes dated from before 1961, below Canadian towns (18%).
Historic places by designation · inside the town
Among them
| Heritage | Kugluktuk | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 6.2% | – | 18% |
Canadian Register of Historic Places, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel, Wikidata; Census 2021 homes by period
Everything we know about Kugluktuk
About Kugluktuk
Town in Nunavut
TownRatings counts Kugluktuk as Statistics Canada does, as one municipality in Nunavut; the census, crime and housing figures all follow that boundary.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 1,529 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Nunavut
- Census division
- Kitikmeot
- Metro area
- Territories (outside CAs, Nvt.) / Territoires (à l'extérieur des AR, Nt)
- Census subdivision
- 6208059
Questions about Kugluktuk
Is Kugluktuk a young town or an old one?
The median resident is 26.8 years old, against 45.2 for the median of Canadian towns. 32% are under 15 and 6% are 65 or over.
What kind of homes are in Kugluktuk?
Mostly 46% single-detached houses (the median of Canadian towns: 64%), with 0% of homes in buildings of five or more storeys. Households hold 3.5 people on average, and 18% have just one.
Is Kugluktuk growing?
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses it fell from 1,491 to 1,382 residents (7.3% down; Canadian towns’ median grew 4.1%); Statistics Canada now estimates 1,529.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. 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).