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Covehead Harbour Lighthouse (21664440824)North Shore, #1 on this list · Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Prince Edward Island · 2026

Prince Edward Island’s rankings: 18 lists

Nobody leads more lists than North Shore, first on 4. West River finishes in the top three 8 times. National #1s lead none of these lists. 18 lists rank the 12 places on Prince Edward Island. On the overall grade, North Shore comes first (A−).

Each list ranks the places on Prince Edward Island against one another; the letters compare every place with Canada’s towns. How grades work

Rankings

Every list for Prince Edward Island

Grouped by what they measure, each card with its top three.

Lists for all of Canada

Overall, and by size

Best places to live
  1. North ShoreA−
  2. West RiverA−
  3. CornwallB+
All 10 →Best small towns
  1. North ShoreA−
  2. West RiverA−
  3. CornwallB+
All 7 →

Subject by subject

Most affordable
  1. O'LearyA
  2. Kensington, Part 1B+
  3. Vernon RiverB+
All 12 →Safest
  1. North ShoreA−
  2. West RiverA−
  3. East River, Part 1A−
All 10 →Healthiest
  1. SummersideB+
  2. CharlottetownB
  3. StratfordB
All 12 →Jobs & income
  1. StratfordA+
  2. North ShoreA
  3. Kensington, Part 1A
All 12 →Most walkable
  1. CharlottetownA
  2. SummersideB+
  3. Three RiversC+
All 12 →Lowest hazard risk
  1. West RiverA
  2. CornwallA
  3. CharlottetownA
All 12 →Civic life
  1. Three RiversA+
  2. CharlottetownA+
  3. O'LearyA+
All 12 →

Described: figures, no letters

Highest incomes
  1. North Shore$98,100
  2. West River$94,000
  3. Stratford$91,200
All 12 →Fastest-growing
  1. Cornwall+22.9%
  2. Stratford+12.5%
  3. West River+11.7%
All 8 →Most historic
  1. West River7
  2. North Shore7
  3. New Glasgow5
All 12 →Most bilingual
  1. Stratford16.2%
  2. Cornwall15.7%
  3. New Glasgow15.6%
All 12 →Youngest
  1. Vernon River37.2 years
  2. Cornwall38.8 years
  3. Stratford40.4 years
All 12 →Oldest
  1. Summerside46.8 years
  2. O'Leary46 years
  3. Kensington, Part 145.6 years
All 12 →Fewest frosts
  1. Three Rivers147 frost days
  2. Summerside153 frost days
  3. O'Leary153 frost days
All 12 →Driest
  1. O'Leary1,002 mm
  2. North Shore1,136 mm
  3. Cornwall1,136 mm
All 12 →Wettest
  1. West River1,290 mm
  2. Three Rivers1,263 mm
  3. New Glasgow1,252 mm
All 12 →
Province by province

Rankings in other provinces and territories

AlbertaBritish ColumbiaManitobaNew BrunswickNewfoundland and LabradorNova ScotiaOntarioPrince Edward IslandQuebecSaskatchewan

Photos: North Shore, Dennis G. Jarvis (CC BY-SA 2.0) · West River, William Matheson from Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Cornwall, Quintin Soloviev (CC BY 4.0) · O'Leary, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson S… (Public domain) · Kensington, Part 1, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson S… (Public domain) · Vernon River, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson S… (Public domain) · East River, Part 1, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson S… (Public domain) · Summerside, Quintin Soloviev (CC BY 4.0) · Charlottetown, Larry from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada (CC BY 2.0) · Stratford, Larry from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada (CC BY 2.0) · Three Rivers, Dennis G. Jarvis (CC BY-SA 2.0) · New Glasgow, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson S… (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Canadian towns against each other only, run #73 of 10 November 2026. 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).