Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0In Dryden, 20% of residents have an Indigenous identity, more than in 96% of Canadian towns
The median age in Dryden is 48, higher than in four fifths of Canadian towns. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 7,808 residents; the 2021 Census found 3,315 households. In Dryden, 24% of residents are 65 or over. One-person households: 34%, above 74% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Dryden
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
20% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 96% of Canadian towns; 8.4% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Fewer people than before
Dryden went from 7,749 people in 2016 to 7,388 in 2021, −5%: slower growth than in 96% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A −5% change since 2016: slower than 96% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. Residents at the 2016 and 2021 censuses and the latest estimate, with the 2016–2021 change beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
The median across Canada’s towns is +4%, and across Ontario’s towns +6%.
Only 14% of residents are under 15 in Dryden
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with nearly one in ten residents. Typically, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Dryden, 48. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 74% of Canadian towns
Who shares a home: household types and sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Census figures put one-parent families at 8.7% in Dryden.
A higher share of common-law partners than 63% of Canadian towns, at 12%
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: just over a quarter of adults (typical: 27%). For comparison, just over one in ten residents 15 and over live common-law across Canada’s towns.
Dryden sits above 67% of Canadian towns for households in single-detached houses (77%)
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
Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, households in single-detached houses come to 64%. 28% of homes were built before 1961 and 7.7% in 2001 or later. Compared with 25% across Canada’s towns, 27% of households rent their home here.
Half above, half below $82,000 a year in household income
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes sit at the middle in Dryden: half had more than $82,000, near the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Household incomes across Ontario’s towns have a median of $91,600. COVID-19 benefits were paid to 18% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Dryden ranks below 63% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 9.7%
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
Where 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns, Dryden has 2.8%. Compared with other places, immigrants are scarce here: 6.1%, fewer than in 77% of Canadian towns. Across the comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. The largest groups of immigrants were born in Europe (52%) and in Asia (25%).
Residents with no religion: 43%, a higher share than 73% of Canadian towns
Residents’ own answers on visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Visible minority residents: 4.2% here and 15% across Canada’s towns. Typically, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
92% have English as their mother tongue; 6.5% 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
Residents whose mother tongue is French: 1.9%, near enough the figure across Canada’s towns. At home: English 98%, French 0.3%.
16% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, fewer than in 80% of Canadian towns
The highest diploma or degree of adults of working age (25 to 64).
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Holding no credential: 13% (typical 9.5%). By way of comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
53% of residents 15 and over were in work
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.
53% of residents 15 and over have a job, against a typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 24% are 65 or more.
Of 41 towns its size (7,675 to 7,946 people), the 8th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Median ages climb from 28.6 (La Broquerie) to 58.8 (Minden Hills) across the group. The closest ages to Dryden’s belong to Whitewater Region (47.6), River East (47.9), Augusta (49.2) and Acton Vale (49.6).
2 in 4 nearby towns have a higher median age than Dryden
Places nearby, shaded by median age, each linked to its page. Distances here run 25–73 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Dryden.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dryden | 7,808 | — | 48 | 24% | 6.1% |
| Machin | 1,060 | 25.2 km | 53.6 | 27% | 9.7% |
| Kenora, Unorganized | 7,877 | 35.4 km | 54.8 | 28% | 5.6% |
| Lac Seul 28 | 1,076 | 57.9 km | 25.6 | 6.8% | 0% |
| Sioux Lookout | 6,122 | 72.7 km | 38 | 14% | 6.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Two medians frame each figure: one for Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, one for all Canadian towns of that size, with whole cities and First Nations reserves left out. Percentiles rank the town within Canada.
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
Questions about Dryden’s residents
Is Dryden good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 50% of households and one-parent families 8.7%. Schools near Dryden are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Dryden?
Median total household income in Dryden was $82,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Dryden?
The latest figure is an estimate: 7,808 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Dryden counted 7,388, 5% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Dryden?
Half the residents are older than 48 and half younger, older than 80% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 24% are 65 or over.
Is Dryden bilingual?
English and French: 6.5% speak both (Canada’s towns: 7.5%). English only: 93%. French only: 0.1%. French mother tongue: 1.9%.
How diverse is Dryden?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 6.1%. A visible minority makes up 4.2% and Indigenous residents 20%.
What religion are people in Dryden?
Most often Christian (55%) or no religion (43%); other religions make up 2.2%.
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).