Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of Indigenous residents than 90% of Canadian towns: 12%
Set against 19% across Canada’s towns, 25% of residents are 65 or over in Sault Ste. Marie. The latest estimate, for July 2025, is 81,182 residents; the 2021 Census found 32,530 households. In Sault Ste. Marie, just over a third of households are one person living alone. The median age in the town is 47.2, higher than in 77% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Sault Ste. Marie
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 12% of residents, more than in 90% of Canadian towns, and 5% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
−2% since 2016, a pace below 88% of Canadian towns
Unless a figure says otherwise, it is from the 2021 Census. Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 13% higher again. Across Canada’s towns the median change is +4%; across Ontario’s towns, +6%.
In Sault Ste. Marie, 14% of residents are under 15, fewer than in 70% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 8.2% of residents. By way of comparison, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Sault Ste. Marie, 47.2. 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.
Smaller households than 74% of Canadian towns: 2.2 people on average
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.
One in ten households are one-parent families, against 8.2% across Canada’s towns.
43% of residents 15 and over are married, below 61% of Canadian towns
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Singles who have never married make up 27% of adults, beside a typical 27%. Set beside that, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 11% in Sault Ste. Marie.
Above 75% of Canadian towns: 6.3% of households live in a building of five or more storeys
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
Where 25% of households rent their home across Canada’s towns, Sault Ste. Marie has 32%. Older homes outnumber new: 34% predate 1961, 7.5% date from 2001 or later. Single-detached houses hold nearly two thirds of households, more than in 51% of Canadian towns, and buildings of five or more storeys 6.3%.
Median gross household income: $73,000 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Total household income: the median household, and the spread from low to high.
Households by income · share of households
Sault Ste. Marie’s median household took in $73,000 before tax, 15% less than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). The figure for Ontario’s towns: $91,600. 25% of income recipients received COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits (typical: 28%).
8.5% 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
Most recent wave: 15% of immigrants arrived in 2011–2021 (Canada’s towns: 27%). Add to that, on immigrants, Sault Ste. Marie sits lower than 68% of Canadian towns: 8.5%. Immigrants here were most often born in Europe (65%), then in Asia (16%).
Sault Ste. Marie ranks above 61% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 38%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 15% across Canada’s towns, the share of visible minority residents in Sault Ste. Marie comes in at 4.5%. As a yardstick, 35% of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
Sault Ste. Marie ranks above 68% of Canadian towns on residents whose mother tongue is French: 2.9%
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
Set against 7.5% across Canada’s towns, 9.3% of residents speak English and French in Sault Ste. Marie. The usual figure: 1.5% of residents have French as their mother tongue across Canada’s towns.
Fewer degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 55% of Canadian towns: 25%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
With no certificate, diploma or degree: 8.4%, beside a typical 9.5%. Across the comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
A job for 48% of residents aged 15 and over
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
The employment rate of 48% is below the typical 58% across Canada’s towns; 25% of residents are 65 or over.
Of 41 towns its size (60,874 to 107,345 people), the 5th oldest
Towns of about this size, placed by median age.
They run from Grande Prairie, at 34, to Lindsay, at 51.6. Closest in median age to Sault Ste. Marie are Chomedey (46.2), Saint-Hyacinthe (46.4), Granby (47.6) and Simcoe (48.8).
Of the 2 towns nearest Sault Ste. Marie, 1 are older
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sault Ste. Marie | 81,182 | — | 47.2 | 25% | 8.5% |
| Garden River 14 | 1,205 | 13.7 km | 38.8 | 14% | 0% |
| Prince | 1,113 | 13.8 km | 51.2 | 26% | 3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Missing from the census as published: unpaid care, cars and internet access, and the shift in each age band since 2016. Ethnic origins past visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- The census’s own words. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered them. “Visible minority” follows the Employment Equity Act, meaning people other than Indigenous peoples who are non-white in colour or race. We compare these figures across towns; none is a label for a town.
Questions about Sault Ste. Marie’s residents
What religion are people in Sault Ste. Marie?
59% are Christian and 38% have no religion; 2.7% follow another religion.
Is Sault Ste. Marie good for families?
Under 15: 14% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 47% of households. One-parent families: 10%. Schools near Sault Ste. Marie are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Sault Ste. Marie?
The median household in Sault Ste. Marie took in $73,000 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Sault Ste. Marie?
Sault Ste. Marie had about 81,182 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 72,051, 2% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Sault Ste. Marie?
A median age of 47.2, older than 77% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 14%, and people 65 and over 25%.
Is Sault Ste. Marie bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 9.3% are. Another 0% speak only French and 90% only English, and French is the first language of 2.9%.
How diverse is Sault Ste. Marie?
8.5% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 4.5% belong to a visible minority and 12% have an Indigenous identity.
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).