Health in Palmerston · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
51% of adults around Palmerston rate their health very good or excellent
Life expectancy in the region is 82.4 years (84.5 for women, 80.2 for men, 2022/2024). Measured from where Palmerston’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 6.6 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Health gives Palmerston a grade of B, #521 of 866 in Ontario and #1,588 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
Ontario: 51% · Area-wide: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy, counted over the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit
Chronic conditions
17%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Ontario: 17%
Smokers
13%
daily or occasional, age-standardised
Ontario: 11%
Life expectancy
82.4
at birth, 2022/2024
women 84.5 · men 80.2
Nearest hospital
6.6 km
residents’ average, straight line
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Health Grade
Palmerston grades B for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
Very good or excellent health (51%)Better than 44% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (17%)Better than 56% of Canadian towns
Smokers (13%)Better than 58% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (82.4)Better than 79% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (6.6 km)Better than 68% of Canadian towns
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #521 of 866 in Ontario and #1,588 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
For its deprivation
About as long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly less
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Palmerston’s region shows close to the trend.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 2.4 about 83.0 years; Palmerston’s region’s 82.4 is within a year of it. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 8 of them above it, a median of 83.0.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
Conditions and habits
In the region, high blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (8.3%)
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
19%
Arthritis
22%
Diabetes
8.3%
Obese (self-reported)
31%
Mood disorder
12%
Anxiety disorder
15%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
13%
Smoke every day
9.5%
Heavy drinking
22%
Ontario
At 31%, self-reported obesity is near Ontario’s 30%. At 22%, heavy drinking beats the provincial 17%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
Getting care
The nearest hospital is 6.6 km from the average home in Palmerston
Straight-line distances from each part of Palmerston, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
6.6 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
13 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
3.4 km
residents’ average distance
0.6 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
From Palmerston that is further than the 3.3 km of the typical town in Ontario, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
Longest and shortest lives among the 34 regions in Ontario
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Ontario, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
82.4
years at birth, 2022/2024
20.9
more years expected at 65
8th
longest of 34 regions in Ontario
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
York Regional Health Unit86.3
Peel Regional Health Unit85.3
Halton Regional Health Unit84.9
City of Toronto Health Unit84.7
City of Ottawa Health Unit83.7
Waterloo Health Unit82.8
Durham Regional Health Unit82.6
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit82.4
Middlesex-London Health Unit81.9
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit81.8
Huron Perth Health Unit81.7
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit81.5
Grey Bruce Health Unit81.3
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit81.3
City of Hamilton Health Unit81.2
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit81.2
Niagara Regional Area Health Unit81.2
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit81.0
Renfrew County and District Health Unit81.0
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit81.0
Oxford Elgin St. Thomas Health Unit80.6
Peterborough County—City Health Unit80.5
Brant County Health Unit80.4
Lambton Health Unit80.0
North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit80.0
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit79.8
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit79.6
Sudbury and District Health Unit79.1
Chatham-Kent Health Unit78.6
The District of Algoma Health Unit77.9
Porcupine Health Unit77.3
Timiskaming Health Unit77.0
Thunder Bay District Health Unit76.5
Northwestern Health Unit73.7
Ranked 8th of 34 in Ontario: the regions span 73.7 to 86.3 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability2.8
Economic dependency2.8
Ethno-cultural composition2.5
Situational vulnerability3.4
This is the one part of the block measured for Palmerston itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health survey
51% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to Ontario (51%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
51%
Health fair or poor
13%
Mental health very good or excellent
49%
Mental health fair or poor
15%
Most days quite a bit stressful
23%
Strong sense of belonging
65%
Satisfied with life
86%
Ontario
Mental health is close to the province’s: 49% rate it very good or excellent, against 51% in Ontario, and 23% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Towns its size
Among 40 towns its size, Palmerston is 27th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (9,886 to 10,175 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.2 km.
Across a regional line, Howick has its own figures: life expectancy 81.7, against 82.4 here. Howick is the furthest from care, 15 km to Palmerston’s 6.6 km.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Palmerston alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
•
Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
•
What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
•
Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
•
Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
•
Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
Questions about health in Palmerston
How is Palmerston’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Palmerston’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Palmerston?
Women in Palmerston’s region live to 84.5 on average and men to 80.2, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How far is Palmerston from a hospital?
A clinic is 13 km from the average resident of Palmerston and a pharmacy 3.4 km, as the crow flies.
How healthy is Palmerston?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 17% of adults.
Photo: Balcer · CC BY 2.5