How Nunavut stacks up
Nunavut sits near the middle of Canada’s provinces and territories, 8th of 13 overall: best on cost of living, 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
13th of 13D−0/100 Near the foot of Canada’s provinces and territories on safety. The whole-province figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Violent crime’s part of the index: 694.5 (Canada 95.5), 13th 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.
Nunavut 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
1st of 13A+100/100 Near the top of Canada’s provinces and territories for cost of living. The whole-province figure carries this grade, and it compares well.
A year’s rent against household income: 7% (Canada 23%), 1st of 13.
Owners’ median home value, 2021: $335,000 (Canada $585,000), 7th of 13.
Monthly rent: $556 (Canada $1,599), 1st 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.
Nunavut has 0 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
13th of 13D−0/100 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: 70.9 years (Canada 82.2), 13th of 13.
Smoke, daily or occasionally (age-standardized): 63% (Canada 11%), 13th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey and life tables by health region, averaged over the province’s residents.
Nunavut 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
9th of 13C33/100 Behind most provinces and territories for jobs and income. The province’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is weaker than most.
In work, aged 15 to 64: 51% (Canada 72%), 13th of 13.
Unemployment, 2021 census: 18.3% (Canada 10.4%), 13th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (household income, employment, unemployment), averaged over the province’s residents.
Nunavut 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
1st of 13A+100/100 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: 48% (Canada 83%).
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021, main mode of commuting, averaged over the province’s residents.
Nunavut 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
1st of 13A+100/100 Among Canada’s best provinces and territories for 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), 6th 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.
Nunavut 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
7th of 13B−50/100 Mid-table on growth. 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.
Source: Statistics Canada, population estimates (July 1) against the 2021 census, summed over the province’s places.
Nunavut 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.
How Nunavut compares with its neighbours
| Nunavut | Northwest Territories | Manitoba | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C+ 428th of 13 | B 586th of 13 | B+ 675th of 13 |
| Safety | D− 013th official | D 812th official | C+ 429th official · 9% in top towns |
| Schools | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Cost of living | A+ 1002nd official | A 923rd official | B 587th official · 50% in top towns |
| Health | D− 013th official | D 812th official | C+ 425th official · 0% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | C 332nd official | A 921st official | A− 758th official · 46% in top towns |
| Getting about | A+ 1001st official | A 922nd official | B− 547th official · 17% in top towns |
| Hazards | A+ 1001st official | B 636th official | C− 1711th official · 7% in top towns |
| Growth | B− 507th official | D 1311th official | B 589th official · 30% 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).