Photo: davestew89 · CC BY 3.0Indigenous residents: 18%, a higher share than 96% of Canadian towns
Households in Marathon hold 2.2 people on average (Canada’s towns: 2.4). Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in nearly two thirds of Canadian towns: 16%. About 3,223 people lived locally in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates. Immigrants: 6.9% of the total.
What stands out about the people of Marathon
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
18% of residents identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, more than in 96% of Canadian towns; 9.3% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Fewer people than before
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, Marathon went from 3,273 to 3,138 residents (−4%), slower growth than in 95% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
−4% since 2016, a pace below 95% of Canadian towns
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
The July 2025 estimate adds another 3%.
Older than 57% of Canadian towns: half of Marathon is over 43.2
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
15% of residents are under 15.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Marathon, 43.2. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women.
One-person households make up 31% in Marathon, more than in 64% of Canadian towns
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Ontario’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Locally, nearly one in ten households are one-parent families. As a reference point, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns.
Above 74% of Canadian towns: 14% of residents 15 and over live common-law
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Single and never married: a quarter of adults, against a typical 27%. 48% of residents 15 and over are married. The comparison figure for common-law partners is 11% across Canada’s towns.
74% of households live in a single-detached house, more than in 64% 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
Renter households: 23% here and 25% across Canada’s towns. One in ten homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%.
Before tax, the median household income is $92,000 a year
The census asked about income in 2020: a pandemic year, with CERB and other emergency benefits counted in. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
At $92,000, the middle household in Marathon out-earned the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000) by 7%. The figure for Ontario’s towns: $91,600. Pandemic payments such as CERB reached 21% of income recipients here, against 28% in the typical town.
6.9% of residents are immigrants
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
Recent arrivals, from 2011 to 2021, are just over two in five immigrants (typical: 27%); non-permanent residents add 1.4% of residents. Residents without Canadian citizenship: 4.3% of the total. 11% lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than the typical 11% across Canada’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 64% of Canadian towns: 40%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
With visible minority residents at 6.1%, Marathon is behind 65% of Canadian towns on that count. The wider picture: 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Above 76% of Canadian towns: 9.4% of residents have French as their mother tongue
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
Bilingual residents: 15% here and 7.5% across Canada’s towns. By way of comparison, 1.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64 make up 14% in Marathon, less than in 86% of Canadian towns
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Without any certificate: 13% of 25- to 64-year-olds (typical: 9.5%).
In work on census day: 55% of adults
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.
With 16% of residents 65 or over, the employment rate of 55% sits under the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Youngest by rank: 19th of 41 towns of 3,173 to 3,273 people
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
Electoral Area A, Sunshine Coast is the oldest at 61.2, Coalhurst the youngest at 32. The towns whose median age is nearest to Marathon’s: Adelaide-Metcalfe (43.2), Beaumont (43.2), Normanhurst (43.4) and Stoke (43.6).
Marathon is younger than every town around it
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. The nearest places to Marathon with figures are 54–66 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marathon | 3,223 | — | 43.2 | 16% | 6.9% |
| Terrace Bay | 1,553 | 54.2 km | 48.8 | 24% | 12% |
| Manitouwadge | 2,052 | 60.2 km | 49.2 | 24% | 9.7% |
| Schreiber | 1,068 | 66.5 km | 54.4 | 24% | 5.6% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- 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. 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.
Questions about Marathon’s residents
What religion are people in Marathon?
Most often Christian (57%) or no religion (40%); other religions make up 3.1%.
Is Marathon good for families?
Children under 15 are 15% of residents, against 16% across Canada’s towns. Couple families make up 55% of households and one-parent families 8.5%. Schools near Marathon are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Marathon?
Median total household income in Marathon was $92,000 in 2020, against a median of $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Marathon?
The latest figure is an estimate: 3,223 residents in July 2025. At the 2021 Census, Marathon counted 3,138, 4% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Marathon?
Half the residents are older than 43.2 and half younger, older than 57% of Canadian towns; 15% are children under 15 and 16% are 65 or over.
Is Marathon bilingual?
15% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.5% speak French only and 84% English only. French is the mother tongue of 9.4%.
How diverse is Marathon?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 17% are immigrants; here, 6.9%. A visible minority makes up 6.1% and Indigenous residents 18%.
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).