Photo: Jfvoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Younger than 98% of Canadian towns: half of Drayton is under 32
Households in Drayton hold 3.3 people on average (Canada’s towns: 2.4). Some 11,518 people live locally, by the estimate for July 2025. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 15%. Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 21%, fewer than in 85% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada counts Drayton as part of Mapleton: the figures on this page are the municipality’s.
What stands out about the people of Drayton
Younger than most towns
The middle resident of Drayton is 32; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 27% are under 15 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A +3% change since 2016: slower than 57% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Across Ontario’s towns the median is +6%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
Drayton: 27% of residents are under 15, above 99% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The largest age band is 5–9: 9.3% of residents, 1.7 times the share across Canada’s towns. Elsewhere, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. Across Drayton, just over one in ten residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Drayton, 32. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
A smaller share of one-person households than 94% of Canadian towns: 13%
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Here 4% of households are one-parent families, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 8.2%. One-person households make up 27% across Canada’s towns.
In Drayton, 62% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 97% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Where 11% of residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns, Drayton has 6.1%. Never married and not common-law: 26% of adults (typical: 27%).
Drayton ranks above 84% of Canadian towns on households in single-detached houses: 88%
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
29% of homes were built before 1961 and 23% in 2001 or later. Across the comparison, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. Drayton has fewer renter households than 79% of Canadian towns, at 14%.
$109,000 a year: the median household income
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
At $109,000, the middle household in Drayton out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 27%. $91,600 is the median household income across Ontario’s towns. Pandemic benefits reached 15% of residents with an income, against a typical 28%.
6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 96% of Canadian towns
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
Across Canada’s towns, the share of immigrants is 17%; Drayton has 7.5%. On average, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. 1.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
78% said they are Christian and 21% that they have no religion
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
By its share of Indigenous residents (0.7%), Drayton is below 86% of Canadian towns. Visible minority residents account for 1.7%.
72% have English as their mother tongue; 2.5% 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
At home, 16% mostly speak another language; 1.4% speak neither English nor French. Bilingual residents are rarer here than in 96% of Canadian towns. What’s more, by its share of residents whose mother tongue is French (0.3%), Drayton is below 97% of Canadian towns.
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 32% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. The usual figure: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
An employment rate of 71%
Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic: some of these rates are lower than in a usual year. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
More people work here than in the typical town: 71%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
Youngest by rank: 3rd of 41 towns of 11,309 to 11,716 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
The youngest of these towns is Milton-Parc, at 30.4; the oldest, Sechelt, is at 57.6. Milton-Parc (30.4), Bridgwater Trails (30.4), Fort Richmond (32.1) and William Whyte (33.3): the towns nearest Drayton in median age.
Every nearby town is older than Drayton
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are. The nearest places to Drayton with figures are 20–25 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drayton | 11,518 | — | 32 | 12% | 7.5% |
| Mount Forest | 14,407 | 19.6 km | 42 | 22% | 6% |
| Fergus | 34,565 | 22.7 km | 44.4 | 22% | 11% |
| Listowel | 18,168 | 23.7 km | 37.6 | 19% | 11% |
| Palmerston | 10,029 | 24.0 km | 40.8 | 21% | 7% |
| Elmira | 31,382 | 25.4 km | 39.6 | 18% | 13% |
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. 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.
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
Questions about Drayton’s residents
How diverse is Drayton?
Immigrants: 7.5% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 1.7%. Indigenous identity: 0.7%.
What religion are people in Drayton?
21% said they have no religion and 78% that they are Christian; 1% named another faith.
Is Drayton good for families?
27% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 75% of households and one-parent families 4%. Schools near Drayton are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Drayton?
Half of Drayton’s households had more than $109,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Drayton?
About 11,518, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 10,839 people in Drayton, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Drayton?
The median age is 32, younger than 98% of Canadian towns. 27% are under 15 and 12% 65 or older.
Is Drayton bilingual?
2.5% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0% speak French only and 96% English only. French is the mother tongue of 0.3%.
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).