Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Athens is older than 87% of Canadian towns: a median age of 50.8
64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns, against 95% in Athens. With about 3,078 residents in July 2025, Athens counted 1,215 households at the 2021 Census. In Athens, 21% of households are one person living alone. Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 97% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Athens
Older than most towns
The middle resident of Athens is 50.8; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 24% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
From 2016 to 2021, 72% of Canadian towns grew faster than Athens: +1%
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
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across Ontario’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 24% in Athens, more than in 77% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.9% here and 11% across Canada’s towns. As a reference point, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Athens, 50.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
2.5 people per household, more than in 58% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Census figures put one-parent families at 7.8% in Athens.
A higher share of married residents 15 and over than 75% of Canadian towns, at 54%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 20% of adults, beside a typical 27%. On average, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 11% in Athens.
Renter households make up 9.5% in Athens, less than in 91% of Canadian towns
The kinds of homes people live in, who owns and who rents, and how old the homes are. 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
Older homes outnumber new: 34% predate 1961, 10% date from 2001 or later. By way of comparison, a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Median gross household income: $85,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Athens had $85,000 before tax, near the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Across Ontario’s towns, half of households had more than $91,600 before tax. In 2020, 23% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 78% of Canadian towns: 8.4%
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
1.3% of residents are not Canadian citizens (Canada’s towns: 5.8%). On top of that, on immigrants, Athens sits lower than 85% of Canadian towns: 4%. To put it in context, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (71%) and in the Americas (25%).
In Athens, 39% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 64% of Canadian towns
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
1% of residents have an Indigenous identity; across Canada’s towns the figure is 2.8%. Across Canada’s towns, residents with no religion come to 35%.
96% have English as their mother tongue; 8% also speak French
Who can speak English and French, mother tongue, and the language spoken most at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Residents whose mother tongue is French account for 1.3%.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 14%, a lower share than 85% of Canadian towns
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 8.1% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. Against that, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 52%
These rates date from May 2021, during the pandemic, and run lower than a normal year’s. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Across Canada’s towns the typical rate is 58%, above this 52%; 24% of residents are 65 or over.
Oldest by rank: 9th of 41 towns of 3,029 to 3,127 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Trois-Pistoles is the oldest at 59.6, La Loche the youngest at 25.6. The closest ages to Athens’s belong to Electoral Area E, Alberni-Clayoquot (50.4), Cap-Pelé (50.8), Cap-Saint-Ignace (51.2) and Shippagan (51.2).
No nearby town is as young as Athens
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 3,078 | — | 50.8 | 24% | 4% |
| Elizabethtown-Kitley | 9,886 | 9.7 km | 51.2 | 25% | 6% |
| Front of Yonge | 2,773 | 15.1 km | 51.6 | 24% | 4.9% |
| Rideau Lakes | 12,148 | 17.9 km | 55.6 | 31% | 6.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. For each measure we take the median of Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, then the median of all Canadian towns. Neither counts whole cities or reserves, and every percentile is a Canadian one.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
- 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 Athens’s residents
What religion are people in Athens?
Most often Christian (61%) or no religion (39%); other religions make up 0.1%.
Is Athens good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 63% of households and one-parent families 7.8%. Schools near Athens are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Athens?
Median total household income in Athens was $85,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Athens?
The latest figure is an estimate: 3,078 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Athens counted 3,042, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Athens?
Half the residents are older than 50.8 and half younger, older than 87% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 24% are 65 or over.
Is Athens bilingual?
8% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 92% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.3%.
How diverse is Athens?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 4%. A visible minority makes up 0.7% and Indigenous residents 1%.
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).