PerthOntario

Measured against local pay, Perth costs more to live in than nine in ten Canadian towns

Owners put the median home at $400,000, about level with Canadian towns ($406,000) and below Ontario’s towns ($695,000). A year’s rent came to 25% of the median household income, above both Ontario’s towns (22%) and Canadian towns (20%).

Perth faces more hazards than nine in ten Canadian towns

Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has mapped the flood hazard here, one of 2 studies on the national inventory. More homes than usual carry radon here, 19% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.081 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical).

Driving to work is less common in Perth than in Ontario’s towns or Canadian towns: 83% of commuters

Workers spend 24 min getting to work, on average.

Visible minorities make up less of Perth than of Ontario’s towns or Canadian towns: 2.5%

4.2% of residents have an Indigenous identity, above Ontario’s towns (1.6%) and Canadian towns (2.8%) alike. Immigrants make up 6.6% of residents, about level with Canadian towns (6.4%) and below Ontario’s towns (7.6%).

January nights in Perth drop to −14.2°C (Ontario towns −9.1°C, Canadian towns −13.5°C)

Frosty days number 163 in a normal year, higher than Ontario’s towns (139) and near Canadian towns (159). Expect July highs of around 27.1°C in Perth. Snow peaks in January: 46 cm in a normal year. A normal September brings 91 mm of precipitation, more than any other month.

Violent crime weighs more on Perth than on Ontario’s towns or Canadian towns: a violent severity index of 120

Police recorded 17.2 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, above Ontario’s towns (10.5) and Canadian towns (12) alike. Property crime accounts for 26.8 incidents per 1,000 residents a year.

Very good or excellent health for 51% of adults in Perth’s health region

Measured across the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit: health survey and life expectancy

Smoking is commoner than in the province: 14% of adults, against 11% for Ontario. The region’s 2022/2024 life expectancy is 81.2, with women at 83.3 and men at 79.2. Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure affect 18% of the region’s adults on average, near both Ontario’s towns (17%) and Canadian towns (17%). The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Perth is well placed: 1.0 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical.

4 of Perth’s 6 tested schools score in the lower two fifths in Ontario

No French-language school is among them; in Ontario, 10% of schools are. Taken together, Perth and its 3 km edge hold 6 elementary schools and 2 secondary schools for 2,440 students.

Expect November days around 6°C in Perth, nights around −2°C

Into December, the normals move to −1°C and −9°C. About 17 cm of snow falls in a normal November. In November, the normal is 75 mm of rain and snow. Hour-by-hour figures come from ECCC’s Smiths Falls forecast, on the Weather page.

Fewer than nine in ten Ontario’s lower-tier municipalities spend as much per resident as Perth

The October 2022 vote made Judy Brown mayor of Perth, heading 7 seats.

Perth’s public library is Perth & District Union Public Library

The library is 0.4 km from the centre of Perth.

Thousand Islands National Park is 32 km from Perth

Count 10 protected areas within 10 km of town. The nearest provincial park, Murphys Point Provincial Park, is 9.4 km away. Within 10 km of the town, 5.4% of the land is protected, against 2.3% around a typical Canadian town. One named trail is close: the Rideau Trail - Central Section.

Before 1961: 41% of the homes in Perth

Go back to 1830 and you reach McMartin House, the oldest of them. Inside the town there are 3 historic places, all of them top designations.