CarlingOntario
Statistics Canada places it in the Parry Sound census division. A town in Ontario, home to 1,609 people.
Is Carling a good place to live?
Natural hazards are few (A). Schools are its weak spot (D). Homes were valued at a median $500,000 at the 2021 census, 5.9 times the typical household’s income. Getting around depends on the car (D−). It lags on health as well (D).
Figures: home values and income: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Carling is graded subject by subject, but Canadian towns need 2,500 residents for an overall grade.
No Safety Grade: no police service publishes a crime rate for this place on its own. Crime here is counted against the people who live here, but many visitors or second-home owners add to it, so the rate per resident runs higher than residents' own risk. 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 Carling grades
Each subject compares Carling with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Carling is graded subject by subject, but Canadian towns need 2,500 residents for an overall grade.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Carling stand out
The 3 things Carling does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Carling.
Few places are as safe from hazards as Carling: it beats 91% of Canadian towns
Radon is lower than usual: 1.9% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Earthquake risk in Carling is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.018 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. No one has filed a flood map for Carling on the national inventory.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 1.9% | 4% | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.018 | $0.043 | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
The nearest high school to Carling is 17 km away
Young children have 12 km to the nearest elementary school, above Ontario’s towns (0.5 km) and Canadian towns (0.5 km) alike.
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nobel Public School Fourth fifth in OntarioLargest elementary schoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | Elementary · Grades JK–8 | 195 | English public |
| Schools within 3 km | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest secondary school | 17 km | 1.2 km | 1.2 km |
| Nearest elementary school | 12 km | 0.5 km | 0.5 km |
Provincial school lists and results, 2024-25
Health in Carling trails 86% of Canadian towns
Health survey and life expectancy for the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit
Expected years of life at birth: 80.0, below Ontario’s towns (82.8) and Canadian towns (81.5) alike. Smoking is commoner than in the province: 18% of adults, against 11% for Ontario, but in the health survey, 47% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than Ontario’s 51%. Closer to home, a hospital is 17 km from the average resident of Carling, further than the usual 3.7 km.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smokers | 18% | 10% | 12% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 80.0 | 82.8 | 81.5 |
| Very good or excellent health | 47% | 51% | 52% |
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
More of Carling’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in Ontario’s towns or Canadian towns: 10%
Immigrants make up 8.8% of residents, above both Ontario’s towns (7.6%) and Canadian towns (6.4%).
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 48.3% of Carling
Here the census found 720 women and 770 men; across Canada the share of women is 50.9%.
| Carling | Ontario | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 9.7% | 15% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 58% | 65% | 64% |
| 65+ | 32% | 19% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 9.5% | 15% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 61% | 56% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Ontario and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
Most households in Carling own their home: 94%, more than in both Ontario’s towns and Canadian towns
12% of households spent 30% or more of their income on shelter, below both Ontario’s towns (22%) and Canadian towns (18%).
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 12% | 22% | 18% |
| Households owning their home | 94% | 76% | 74% |
| Median home value, 2021 | $500,000 | $695,000 | $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.
Carling has colder winters than Ontario’s towns or Canadian towns: January lows of −15.3°C
Summer highs average 25.3°C in July, lower than Ontario’s towns (26.7°C) and near Canadian towns (25.5°C). October is the wettest month, with 111 mm of rain and snow on average. Muskoka, 88 km away, supplies the normals.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| January night low | −15.3°C | −9.1°C | −13.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 175 | 139 | 159 |
| Precipitation a year | 1,062 mm | 902 mm | 883 mm |
| July afternoon high | 25.3°C | 26.7°C | 25.5°C |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Muskoka)
More commuters in Carling drive than in Ontario’s towns or Canadian towns: 98%
The commute to work averages 29 min.
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car or van | 98% | 88% | 89% |
| Average trip | 29 min | 29 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.
Carling has more protected land around it than nearly 9 in 10 Canadian towns
The tally of protected areas open to the public within 10 km is 11, above Ontario’s towns (4) and Canadian towns (4) alike. Georgian Bay Islands National Park is the closest national park, 22 km from town. Protected areas take in 16% of the town itself.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 11% | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 11 | 4 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
A normal November in Carling runs from −3°C to 5°C
The year peaks in July (25°C) and bottoms out in January (−15°C). The month after, December, normally sees −1°C afternoons and −10°C nights. A normal November brings 103 mm of rain and snow. ECCC’s forecast for Parry Sound is on the Weather page, hour by hour.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −3°C | −13°C | 235 mm |
| Spring | 10°C | −2°C | 244 mm |
| Summer | 24°C | 12°C | 267 mm |
| Autumn | 13°C | 2°C | 316 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Muskoka); the forecast is on the Weather page
Each seat on Carling’s council speaks for just 320 residents, fewer than in 91% of Ontario municipalities
The October 2022 vote made Susan Murphy mayor of Carling, heading 5 seats.
| Turnout | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal election, 2022 | 44% | 31% | 31% |
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
No public library stands in Carling: the closest, Parry Sound Public Library, is 17 km away
After it comes Rosseau Library (Seguin), 49 km away.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
Canada’s registers list 1 historic place in Carling
At the 2021 census, 10% of homes dated from before 1961, lower than both Ontario’s towns (22%) and Canadian towns (18%).
Historic places by designation · inside the town
Among them
| Heritage | Carling | Ontario | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 10% | 22% | 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 Carling
Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts and 2 more in and around Carling
What there is to see in Carling and within a short drive, starting with the places most people have heard of.
Famous people from around Carling
No notable person born in Carling is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
Photo credits
Bobby Orr: Aaron Frutman, CC BY 2.0 · Francis Pegahmagabow: Canadian government, Public domain · Mark Ideson: LGOntario from Ontario, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0
About Carling
Town in Ontario
Statistics Canada treats Carling as a single census subdivision in Ontario, and TownRatings keeps to that line.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 1,609 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Ontario
- Census division
- Parry Sound
- Census subdivision
- 3549036
Carling’s neighbours
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Statistics Canada
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carling | 1,609 | — | — | — | — | D |
| McDougall | 3,002 | 14 | D− | D | C− | C− |
| Parry Sound | 7,584 | 17 | D | D | C | C |
| The Archipelago | 1,057 | 18 | — | — | C− | C− |
People: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Distances: centre to centre.
Questions about Carling
Who are the people of Carling?
At the 2021 census, 9% were immigrants and 0% belonged to a visible minority (Canadian towns’ median: 15%). 10% identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
Has Carling grown?
It added people: 1,125 in 2016, 1,491 in 2021, 32.5% more, where the middle of Canadian towns grew 4.1%. Statistics Canada’s 2025 estimate is 1,609.
What kind of homes are in Carling?
Single-detached houses make up 97% of the homes here, where Canadian towns sit at 64%; 0% are in high-rise apartments. 30% of households are one person, and the average is 2.1.
Is Carling a young town or an old one?
At 58, its median age compares with 45.2 across Canadian towns.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · 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).