Photo: P199 · Public domainOlder than 90% of Canadian towns: half of Lanark Highlands is over 52
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 7.1%, Lanark Highlands is behind 96% of Canadian towns on that count. Some 6,370 people live in the town, by the estimate for July 2025. For Lanark Highlands, the census puts households in single-detached houses at 94%. On residents with no religion, Lanark Highlands sits higher than four fifths of Canadian towns: 46%.
What stands out about the people of Lanark Highlands
Older than most towns
Lanark Highlands’s median age is 52; the typical median across Canadian towns is 42. 25% are 65 or over, against 19% across Canada’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Faster growth than 70% of Canadian towns: Lanark Highlands changed by +8% since 2016
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 11%. Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +6% across Ontario’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over: 25%, a higher share than 81% of Canadian towns
Residents by five-year age band, each beside the typical town (the tick).
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: just over one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Canada’s towns. On average, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns. 14% of residents are under 15.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Lanark Highlands, 52. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 64% of Canadian towns
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Against a figure of 8.2% across Canada’s towns, the share of one-parent families in Lanark Highlands comes in at 6.2%. For Lanark Highlands, the census puts one-person households at 26%.
A higher share of common-law partners than 72% of Canadian towns, at 14%
Married, common-law, single: residents 15 and over.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
The figure for married residents 15 and over is 52% in Lanark Highlands and 46% across Canada’s towns. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
Renter households: 11%, a lower share than 85% of Canadian towns
Dwelling types, tenure and age of the housing. 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
27% of homes were built before 1961 and 24% in 2001 or later. Against that, 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.
Household income at the median: $81,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The middle household in Lanark Highlands had $81,000 before tax, 6% below the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). Ontario’s towns have a median of $91,600. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 21% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
8.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 74% of Canadian towns
Where immigrants were born and when they came, and how recently residents moved in.
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
Immigrants: 5.8% here and 17% across Canada’s towns. Against that, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns. Residents without Canadian citizenship: 1.7% of the total.
More Indigenous residents than 67% of Canadian towns: 4.5%
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Compared with 15% across Canada’s towns, 0.7% of residents belong to a visible minority here. The comparison figure for Indigenous residents is 2.8% across Canada’s towns.
Bilingual residents make up 14% in Lanark Highlands, more than in 69% of Canadian towns
The official languages residents can speak, and the ones they learned first.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
Compared with 1.5% across Canada’s towns, 4.2% of residents have French as their mother tongue here. As a reference point, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. At home: English 98%, French 1%.
Only 18% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in Lanark Highlands
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
52% of adults were employed in May 2021
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. Work, briefly: employment, unemployment, participation and working from home. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Fewer work here than in the typical town: 52%, against 58% across Canada’s towns. 25% of residents are 65 or over.
41 towns of 6,267 to 6,478 people: this is the 3rd oldest
The Canadian towns closest in population, from youngest to oldest.
The youngest of these towns is The Orchards At Ellerslie, at 31.3; the oldest, Peachland, is at 60. The towns whose median age is nearest to Lanark Highlands’s: South Surrey (48.3), Turnball (50.8), Lac-Brome (58) and Peachland (60).
Lanark Highlands sits below 2 of its 5 closest neighbours on median age
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are. Lanark Highlands has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 22–29 km out.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanark Highlands | 6,370 | — | 52 | 25% | 5.8% |
| Tay Valley | 6,171 | 22.1 km | 57.2 | 32% | 6.1% |
| Perth | 6,972 | 23.5 km | 58.4 | 39% | 6.6% |
| Drummond/North Elmsley | 8,817 | 23.8 km | 50.8 | 25% | 5.4% |
| Carleton Place | 14,837 | 28.5 km | 41.6 | 21% | 7.9% |
| Beckwith | 10,073 | 29.1 km | 44.4 | 16% | 7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns. Provincial and national yardsticks: Ontario’s towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents, and all Canadian towns of that size. No whole city and no First Nations reserve is in either median.
Questions about Lanark Highlands’s residents
What is the median income in Lanark Highlands?
Median total household income in Lanark Highlands was $81,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Lanark Highlands?
The latest figure is an estimate: 6,370 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Lanark Highlands counted 5,737, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Lanark Highlands?
Half the residents are older than 52 and half younger, older than 90% of Canadian towns; 14% are children under 15 and 25% are 65 or over.
Is Lanark Highlands bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 14% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 86% speak only English and 0% only French; 4.2% grew up with French.
How diverse is Lanark Highlands?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 5.8%. A visible minority makes up 0.7% and Indigenous residents 4.5%.
What religion are people in Lanark Highlands?
Most often Christian (53%) or no religion (46%); other religions make up 1.7%.
Is Lanark Highlands good for families?
Children under 15 are 14% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 59% of households and one-parent families 6.2%. Schools near Lanark Highlands are on its Schools page.
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).