West Kelowna passes Penticton to become Thompson-Okanagan’s 4th largest city
A growth spurt in West Kelowna in the past year has pushed it ahead of Penticton in terms of population.
West Kelowna grew by 4.5% to 40,506 residents between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, according to population estimates released by the Government of BC today, Jan. 30.
Penticton is the only one of the Thompson-Okanagan region’s five largest cities to grow slower than the province as a whole at 2.5%, reaching a population of 37,736.
Kelowna grew by 4.2% to 159,857, while Kamloops saw a 3.4% growth rate to 106,684.
READ MORE: How fortunes changed for the Thompson-Okanagan’s largest cities
Vernon was just above the provincial average at 3.2% to 47,016.
The population of BC grew at its fastest pace since 1974 at 3%, reaching 5.5 million. It's forecast to grow by 44% to reach 7.9 million by 2046.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
