Photo: OhanaUnited Talk page · CC BY-SA 4.0Rankin Inlet is younger than 99% of Canadian towns: a median age of 26.8
Residents with no religion: 22%, below 84% of Canadian towns. Rankin Inlet had about 3,336 residents in July 2025, by Statistics Canada’s estimate, and 825 households at the 2021 Census. Here, 17% of residents are aged 15 to 24. More one-parent families than in 96% of Canadian towns: 14%.
What stands out about the people of Rankin Inlet
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 86% of residents, more than in 99% of Canadian towns. 0.9% are Registered or Treaty Indians and 41% grew up speaking an Indigenous language. Identity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
The middle resident of Rankin Inlet is 26.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 30% are under 15 and 4.5% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A town of renters
72% of households rent their home, more than in 96% of Canadian towns; 20% live in an apartment. Homes ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +5% change since 2016: faster than 54% of Canadian towns
The 2021 Census is the source of every figure here unless a date says otherwise. 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. Across Canada’s towns the median change was +4%.
In Rankin Inlet, 4.5% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 99% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
Against a figure of 16% across Canada’s towns, the share of children under 15 in Rankin Inlet comes in at 30%. No age band is larger than 5–9: just over one in ten residents, 2 times the share across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Rankin Inlet, 26.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Rankin Inlet households average 3.6 people, larger than in 98% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Set against 27% across Canada’s towns, just over a fifth of households are one person living alone in Rankin Inlet.
In Rankin Inlet, 21% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 85% of Canadian towns
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: nearly two in five adults (typical: 27%). 31% of residents 15 and over are married, a lower share than in 85% of Canadian towns. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
Rankin Inlet sits above 96% of Canadian towns for renter households (72%)
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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
The share of households in buildings of five or more storeys tops 64% of Canadian towns: 1.8%. Rankin Inlet has fewer households in single-detached houses than 73% of Canadian towns, at 46%. Against that, 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Newer homes outnumber old: 27% date from 2001 or later, 2.4% from before 1961.
Median household income here: $140,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Rankin Inlet’s, at $140,000, is 63% higher. In 2020, 30% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Only 8.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Rankin Inlet
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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
Most immigrants were born in Asia (60%) or in the Americas (16%). At 4.3%, the share of immigrants is lower than in 84% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. 36% of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of Indigenous residents than 99% of Canadian towns: 86%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for visible minority residents is 4.4% in Rankin Inlet and 15% across Canada’s towns. The wider picture: 2.8% of residents have an Indigenous identity across Canada’s towns.
19% have a mother tongue other than English or French
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns, against 1.9% in Rankin Inlet. Fewer residents whose mother tongue is French than in 92% of Canadian towns: 0.5%. An Indigenous language is the mother tongue of 41%.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 13% in Rankin Inlet, less than in 89% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 36% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. As a reference point, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 59%
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 59% is close to the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Youngest by rank: 2nd of 41 towns of 3,290 to 3,392 people
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
The group spans Arviat, youngest at 21.8, to North Kawartha, oldest at 59.2. Arviat (21.8), Inuvik (34.8) and Royal Gardens (35.2): the towns nearest Rankin Inlet in median age.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. Unpaid care, car ownership and internet access aren’t in the Census Profile, nor is the change by age since 2016. Ethnic origins other than visible minority and Indigenous identity are left out of the charts.
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
- Against Canada’s towns. Nunavut 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).
Questions about Rankin Inlet’s residents
What religion are people in Rankin Inlet?
22% said they have no religion and 77% that they are Christian; 1.7% named another faith.
Is Rankin Inlet good for families?
30% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 44% of households and one-parent families 14%. Schools near Rankin Inlet are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rankin Inlet?
Half of Rankin Inlet’s households had more than $140,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Rankin Inlet?
About 3,336, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 2,975 people in Rankin Inlet, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rankin Inlet?
The median age is 26.8, younger than 99% of Canadian towns. 30% are under 15 and 4.5% 65 or older.
Is Rankin Inlet bilingual?
1.9% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 97% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.5%.
How diverse is Rankin Inlet?
Immigrants: 4.3% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 4.4%. Indigenous identity: 86%.
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).