Photo: busand2003 · CC BY 3.0A lower share of renter households than 98% of Canadian towns, at 5.9%
Half of Melbourne’s residents are over 48, older than in 80% of Canadian towns. With about 1,128 residents in July 2025, Melbourne counted 440 households at the 2021 Census. One-person households: just over a fifth of the total. Here just over a quarter of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 35%.
What stands out about the people of Melbourne
A bilingual town
Both official languages: 54% of residents speak English and French, more than in 92% of Canadian towns. Another 37% speak only French and 8.7% only English. English & French ↓
Common-law couples
Common-law unions take in 28% of adults, more than in 91% of Canadian towns, while 42% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A larger share of bilingual residents than 92% of Canadian towns: 54%
The figures are the 2021 Census’s, except where another date is given. 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
Here just over a quarter of residents have English as their mother tongue, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 66%. At home: French 69%, English 27%. As a yardstick, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Melbourne’s population moved +3% on 2016, less than in 56% of Canadian towns
Two census counts, five years apart, and Statistics Canada’s newest estimate.
Change, 2016 to 2021
Medians for comparison: +4% across Canada’s towns; +4% across Quebec’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over: 23%, a higher share than 74% of Canadian towns
Every five-year age group as a share of residents; ticks mark the typical town.
Against a figure of 11% across Canada’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Melbourne comes in at 9.6%. To put it in context, 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 116 men for every 100 women.
Larger households than 58% of Canadian towns: 2.5 people on average
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Set against 8.2% across Canada’s towns, 4.5% of households are one-parent families in Melbourne.
Above 91% of Canadian towns: 28% of residents 15 and over live common-law
How adults live as couples, or don’t, with common-law unions shown on their own.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Set against 46% across Canada’s towns, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married in Melbourne. Common-law partners make up 11% across Canada’s towns.
More households in single-detached houses than 97% of Canadian towns: 96%
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
9.4% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. Across Canada’s towns, 64% of households live in a single-detached house. Older homes outnumber new: 45% predate 1961, 15% date from 2001 or later. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Canadian towns.
$76,500 a year: the median household income
Incomes are 2020’s, the census’s reference year, and include pandemic benefits such as CERB. Income per household, before tax, with the groups it falls into.
Households by income · share of households
The median across Canada’s towns is $86,000; Melbourne’s, at $76,500, is 11% lower. Within Quebec’s towns, the household in the middle had $74,000. In 2020, 25% of income recipients drew a COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefit; the typical town had 28%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 10%, a lower share than 60% of Canadian towns
Birthplaces and arrival years of immigrants, citizenship and recent moves.
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
Compared with 5.8% across Canada’s towns, 1% of residents are not Canadian citizens here. Locally, 3.9% of residents are immigrants. Across Canada’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 11%.
74% said they are Christian and 26% that they have no religion
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Indigenous residents are rarer here than in 98% of Canadian towns. Visible minority residents are rarer here than in 99% of Canadian towns.
27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No diploma or degree: 16% here, 9.5% in the typical town.
58% of residents 15 and over were in work
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. Four labour figures from the census. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
At 58%, the share in work is about the typical 58% across Canada’s towns.
Around Melbourne, 2 of 6 towns have a higher median age
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 1,128 | — | 48 | 23% | 3.9% |
| Richmond | 3,419 | 2.7 km | 48.8 | 27% | 1.9% |
| Cleveland | 1,624 | 5.3 km | 53.2 | 32% | 1.1% |
| Durham-Sud | 1,041 | 12.3 km | 42 | 21% | 2.9% |
| Windsor | 5,368 | 14.3 km | 44.4 | 24% | 0.7% |
| Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton | 2,650 | 14.3 km | 41.2 | 18% | 0.8% |
| Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey | 1,550 | 16.7 km | 46.4 | 22% | 1.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What these tables don’t give. The Census Profile has no unpaid care, cars or internet access, and no change by age since 2016; ethnic origins beyond visible minority and Indigenous identity aren’t charted here.
- The census’s own words. “Visible minority” is the census’s term from the Employment Equity Act: people, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are as residents answered. The page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
- Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. A figure here is set beside two middles, the median across Quebec’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.
Questions about Melbourne’s residents
What is the median income in Melbourne?
Half of Melbourne’s households had more than $76,500 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Melbourne?
About 1,128, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 1,096 people in Melbourne, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Melbourne?
The median age is 48. 16% are under 15 and 23% 65 or older.
Is Melbourne bilingual?
Across Canada’s towns a typical 7.5% are bilingual; here 54% are. Another 37% speak only French and 8.7% only English, and French is the first language of 70%.
How diverse is Melbourne?
Immigrants: 3.9% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 0%. Indigenous identity: 0%.
What religion are people in Melbourne?
26% said they have no religion and 74% that they are Christian; 0% named another faith.
Is Melbourne good for families?
16% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 67% of households and one-parent families 4.5%. Schools near Melbourne are on its Schools page.
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).