Kelowna one of the few places getting younger in the Thompson-Okanagan

The Thompson-Okanagan region, like the rest of Canada, is getting older.

But data released by Statistics Canada today, April 27, shows that the average age of Kelowna residents dropped during the 2016-21 census period.

That drop was not big, going down to an average of 43.2 years from 43.4 years but, given it’s the region’s largest city with 144,567 residents, it’s a significant shift.

Even more so that, other than a handful of smaller communities in the region, it’s the only city to head in that direction.

READ MORE: Kamloops is youngest of region’s larger cities: Census

The average age of Kamloops residents climbed to 42.4 years from 41.9 and Vernon aged by 1.2 years to 47.2.

The changes were smaller in Penticton (48.9 years from 48.7) and West Kelowna (43.3 years from 43.1).

Logan Lake, Sun Peaks and Sicamous also got younger, by 0.1 to 0.6 years.

The oldest community in the region was Keremeos at 58 years, an increase during the census period of 1.7 years.

Osoyoos was the second oldest at 56.8 years, up 1.2 years.

The youngest community on the list was Sun Peaks at 39.9 years, a drop of 1.1 years from 2016.

Thompson-Okanagan communities from the youngest to the oldest, showing the average age in 2021.

• 39.9 – Sun Peaks
• 42.4 – Kamloops
• 42.8 – Lake Country
• 43.2 – Kelowna
• 43.2 – Lumby
• 43.3 – West Kelowna
• 44.5 – Spallumcheen
• 44.8 – Coldstream
• 46.0 – Vernon
• 46.3 – Merritt
• 47.1 – Armstrong
• 47.9 – Salmon Arm
• 48.7 – Penticton
• 48.8 – Logan Lake
• 49.1 – Enderby
• 49.2 – Summerland
• 50.7 – Sicamous
• 51.8 – Oliver
• 52.5 – Chase
• 53.3 – Peachland
• 56.8 – Osoyoos
• 58.0 – Keremeos

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