Photo: C Robson · CC BY-SA 3.0A higher share of Indigenous residents than 95% of Canadian towns, at 16%
With a median age of 37.6, Whitehorse is younger than 79% of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada puts the town’s population at 34,129 for July 2025. For Whitehorse, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 17%. Where nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns, Whitehorse has 14%.
What stands out about the people of Whitehorse
First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents
An Indigenous identity is reported by 16% of residents, more than in 95% of Canadian towns, and 9.4% are Registered or Treaty Indians. Identity & religion ↓
Growing faster than most
Whitehorse went from 25,085 people in 2016 to 28,201 in 2021, +12%: faster growth than in 88% of Canadian towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
A growing town: +12% since 2016, faster than 88% of Canadian towns
Figures are from the 2021 Census unless dated otherwise. The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
For comparison, Canada’s towns changed by a median +4%. Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025 is 21% higher again.
Whitehorse: 18% of residents are under 15, above 67% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 30–34: 9% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Canada’s towns. Set beside that, 16% of residents are under 15 across Canada’s towns.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Whitehorse, 37.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split.
Whitehorse: 9.5% of households are one-parent families, above 69% of Canadian towns
Households by family type and by the number of people in them.
Against Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.4 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. The share of one-person households stands at 29%. Against that, 8.2% of households are one-parent families across Canada’s towns.
17% of residents 15 and over live common-law, a share 80% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Here 39% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure across Canada’s towns is 46%. The benchmark for common-law partners across Canada’s towns: 11%.
A smaller share of households in single-detached houses than 70% of Canadian towns: 48%
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. 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
9.3% of homes need major repairs, against a typical 5.8%. By way of comparison, 64% of households live in a single-detached house across Canada’s towns. In Whitehorse, nearly a third of households rent their home.
Median household income: $112,000 a year
Census incomes are for 2020, the year before the census, when CERB and other pandemic benefits topped up many households. What households took in before tax, at the middle and across income groups.
Households by income · share of households
Whitehorse’s median household took in $112,000 before tax, 30% more than the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). COVID-19 benefits were paid to 22% of residents with an income, where the typical town had 28%.
Residents without Canadian citizenship make up 9% in Whitehorse, more than in 64% of Canadian towns
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
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
Of the immigrants living here, 43% came between 2011 and 2021; across Canada’s towns the share is 27%. Set beside that, 5.8% of residents are not Canadian citizens across Canada’s towns. Immigrants here were most often born in Asia (52%), then in Europe (28%).
Whitehorse ranks above 95% of Canadian towns on residents with no religion: 58%
Identity and faith, in the census’s categories.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Here, 17% of residents belong to a visible minority. As a yardstick, just over a third of residents said they have no religion across Canada’s towns.
In Whitehorse, 16% of residents speak English and French, more than in 70% of Canadian towns
English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
4.4% of residents have French as their mother tongue (Canada’s towns: 1.5%). Bilingual residents: 7.5% across Canada’s towns, for comparison. At home, 7% mostly speak another language; 0.4% speak neither English nor French.
A higher share of degree holders aged 25 to 64 than 67% of Canadian towns, at 37%
Education of residents 25 to 64, by highest credential.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 7.3%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. Elsewhere, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
70% of adults were employed in May 2021
The census counted work in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so read these rates as a pandemic snapshot. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
More people work here than in the typical town: 70%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
9th lowest median age among 41 towns of 31,627 to 36,594
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Median ages here range from 34.8 in DT Core to 53.2 in Sorel-Tracy. Thorold (37.2), Chestermere (37.6), Metrotown (38) and West Humber-Clairville (38.1): the towns nearest Whitehorse in median age.
The places around Whitehorse
Neighbouring places and their median ages; each name opens its page. Whitehorse has no close neighbour with figures; the nearest is 21 km away.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehorse | 34,129 | — | 37.6 | 14% | 15% |
| Macpherson-Grizzly Valley | 1,634 | 21.1 km | 42.8 | 18% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Canada’s towns. Yukon has too few towns of 2,500 or more for a median of its own, so each figure is set beside the median of all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out).
- 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. In the census, “visible minority” is the Employment Equity Act’s term for people who are non-white in colour or race and not Indigenous. Like immigrant status, Indigenous identity and religion, which residents reported themselves, it is compared with other towns, never turned into a label.
Questions about Whitehorse’s residents
What is the average age in Whitehorse?
The median age is 37.6, younger than 79% of Canadian towns. 18% are under 15 and 14% 65 or older.
Is Whitehorse bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 16% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 84% speak only English and 0.2% only French; 4.4% grew up with French.
How diverse is Whitehorse?
Immigrants: 15% (Canada’s towns: 17%). Visible minority: 17%. Indigenous identity: 16%.
What religion are people in Whitehorse?
58% said they have no religion and 37% that they are Christian; 5% named another faith.
Is Whitehorse good for families?
18% of residents are under 15 (Canada’s towns: 16%); couple families are 47% of households and one-parent families 9.5%. Schools near Whitehorse are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Whitehorse?
Half of Whitehorse’s households had more than $112,000 in 2020, before tax; across Canada’s towns the median was $86,000.
What is the population of Whitehorse?
About 34,129, by Statistics Canada’s estimate for July 2025. The 2021 Census found 28,201 people in Whitehorse, 12% more than 2016.
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).