Photo: Larry from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada · CC BY 2.0More residents aged 15 to 24 than 96% of Canadian towns: 16%
Just over two thirds of immigrants arrived between 2011 and 2021, against 27% across Canada’s towns. Few places have as many one-person households: 36% here, more than in nearly four fifths of Canadian towns. The 2021 Census found 17,185 households in Charlottetown; by July 2025 the population was about 48,118. Here, 17% of residents are not Canadian citizens.
What stands out about the people of Charlottetown
A town of renters
Renters are 54% of households, more than in 88% of Canadian towns, and 43% of households live in an apartment. Homes ↓
A town people move to
A year before the census, 19% of residents lived elsewhere, 1.7 times the typical share; over five years, 50% moved. Immigrants & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Charlottetown’s population changed by +8% since 2016, more than in 70% of Canadian towns
All figures are the 2021 Census’s unless another date is shown. How the population moved between the last two censuses, and since.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 24%. Across Prince Edward Island’s towns the median is +11%, and across Canada’s towns +4%.
A smaller share of children under 15 than 78% of Canadian towns: 13%
Age bands of five years, the town’s bars against the typical town’s ticks.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (21%), Charlottetown is above 63% of Canadian towns. On average, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns. The median age here is 40.8, lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Charlottetown, 40.8. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women.
Charlottetown households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 74% of Canadian towns
Private households by type and size.
Against Prince Edward Island’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Shared houses stand out: nearly one in ten households are unrelated adults living together, more than in 94% of Canadian towns. Census figures put one-parent families at 8.4% in Charlottetown.
40% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 69% of Canadian towns
Residents 15 and over by marital status; the census counts common-law couples separately.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
36% of adults have never married and don’t live common-law (typical: 27%). Across the comparison, 46% of residents 15 and over are married across Canada’s towns. Census figures put common-law partners at 9.4% in Charlottetown.
Charlottetown ranks above 88% of Canadian towns on renter households: 54%
Occupied homes by type, by owners and renters, and by when they were built. 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
Newer homes outnumber old: 25% date from 2001 or later, 21% from before 1961. Few places have so few households in single-detached houses: 44% here, fewer than in 75% of Canadian towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are about as common here as across Canada’s towns: 0.3%.
The midpoint household income is $66,000 a year
The income year is 2020: a year of pandemic benefits such as CERB, which the figures count. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Charlottetown’s, at $66,000, is 23% lower. The middle household across Prince Edward Island’s towns has $82,500 before tax. In 2020, 29% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Charlottetown ranks above 91% of Canadian towns on residents who moved in within the year: 19%
Immigrants, newcomers and movers.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
The share of immigrants stands at 14%. The usual figure: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Canada’s towns.
More visible minority residents than 58% of Canadian towns: 22%
Visible minority, Indigenous identity and religion, as residents answered the census.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents with no religion is 33% in Charlottetown and 35% across Canada’s towns. Measured more widely, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority across Canada’s towns. Other faiths: Muslim (3.4%) and Hindu (2.3%). At 2%, the share of Indigenous residents is lower than in 61% of Canadian towns.
Bilingual residents make up 13% in Charlottetown, more than in 67% of Canadian towns
Knowledge of the two official languages, first languages, and the language of home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
At home: English 85%, French 0.7%. On average, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns. Residents whose mother tongue is French are about as common here as across Canada’s towns, at 1.8%.
Degree holders aged 25 to 64: 40%, a higher share than 72% of Canadian towns
From no certificate to a master’s: residents 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
Some 6% have no certificate, diploma or degree, against a typical 9.5%. The wider picture: 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
59% of residents 15 and over were in work
May 2021 was still a pandemic month: the census’s work figures reflect that. The census’s labour rates, in brief. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
Employment here, 59%, matches the middle of Canada’s towns (58%) within a couple of points.
Of 41 towns its size (41,910 to 55,572 people), the 15th youngest
Median age of the Canadian towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Shawinigan is the oldest at 54.4, Whalley the youngest at 34.9. In age, Charlottetown keeps company with Vaudreuil-Dorion (40.8), Woodstock (40.8), Port-Maurice (41.6) and Innisfil (42).
Charlottetown and its 6 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each links to its own page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlottetown | 48,118 | — | 40.8 | 21% | 14% |
| Cornwall | 7,920 | 5.4 km | 38.8 | 17% | 9.7% |
| Stratford | 13,152 | 5.8 km | 40.4 | 18% | 13% |
| Crossroads | 2,366 | 9.0 km | 41.2 | 14% | 3.5% |
| Miltonvale Park | 1,279 | 9.4 km | 45.2 | 18% | 4.4% |
| North Shore | 1,609 | 10.0 km | 42 | 15% | 5.1% |
| North Shore | 2,994 | 12.6 km | 42.4 | 18% | 4.8% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Prince Edward Island’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Prince Edward Island’s places of 2,500 people or more and the median across all Canadian towns that size; reserves and entire cities are excluded from both.
- What these tables don’t give. For origins the charts stop at visible minority and Indigenous identity, and the Census Profile has nothing on unpaid care, cars or the internet, or on change by age since 2016.
- 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 Charlottetown’s residents
What religion are people in Charlottetown?
Christian: 58%. No religion: 33%. Another religion: 9.4%.
Is Charlottetown good for families?
Across Canada’s towns, a typical 16% of residents are under 15; here, 13%. 43% of households are couple families and 8.4% one-parent families. Schools near Charlottetown are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Charlottetown?
$66,000 before tax, in 2020: the middle household’s income in Charlottetown (Canada’s towns: $86,000).
What is the population of Charlottetown?
Statistics Canada estimates 48,118 residents for July 2025; the 2021 Census counted 38,809 in Charlottetown, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Charlottetown?
40.8 is the median age, younger than 58% of Canadian towns. Under 15: 13%. 65 and over: 21%.
Is Charlottetown bilingual?
13% of residents can speak both English and French (typical across Canada’s towns: 7.5%); 0.1% speak French only and 86% English only. French is the mother tongue of 1.8%.
How diverse is Charlottetown?
Immigrants make up 14% of residents, against 17% across Canada’s towns. 22% are members of a visible minority, and 2% are First Nations, Métis or Inuit.
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).