New census data from Statistics Canada confirms what many suspected – Revelstoke has seen an influx of younger people in town over the past five years. At the same time, there has been a decline in the female population.
While Revelstoke's population declined between 2006 and 2011, the census data shows there was a substantial increase in the number of young adults (20-39) and a slight increase in the number of seniors.
Meanwhile, the number of children and teenagers declined significantly, as well as the number of adults between the ages of 40-64.
Revelstoke also went from having a nearly perfect split of men and women in 2006 to having a surplus of men, especially in the younger age groups.
The census data was released Tuesday morning. It shows the population of men increased slightly to 3,640 in 2011 from 3,620 in 2006. However, the number of women in Revelstoke declined by more than 100, to 3,500 from 3,610. (Stats Canada rounds to the nearest 10, so the sums don't add up precisely.)
The census data shows what seemed obvious in Revelstoke – that there was an increase in younger people in town. The number of 20- and 30-somethings went up by 250, to 2,030 from 1,780. This age group (20-39) now makes up 28.5 per cent of Revelstoke's population, compared to 24.5 per cent five years ago.
Like the rest of Canada, the number of seniors increased (by 30), while there was also an increase in people over the age of 80. Women live longer than men, as evidenced by the fact that 60.4 per cent of the population over 80 is female.
Men outnumbered women in all other age groups except 20–24, 40–44, and 70–74.
Revelstoke has a lower percentage of seniors than the rest of B.C. – 13.4 per cent in Revelstoke, shy of the 15.7 per cent provincial average. However that's a slightly higher percentage than five years ago, when 12.8 per cent of the local population was eligible to collect a pension.
The working-age population, defined as people aged 15-65, held steady at 5,080 with an increase in men matched by an identical decrease in women in that age group. The percentage of Revelstokians of working age is slightly higher than the province as a whole (71.2 per cent vs. 69.5 per cent.)
There was a significant decline in under-20 youth. Their numbers dropped by 215 in the past five years. That trend is tempered by a recent baby boom, with three consecutive years of high births in Revelstoke, and the population of 0- to four-year-olds increased by 15.
The median age in Revelstoke remained essentially the same, decreasing slightly to 40.3 from 40.9.
The 2011 census was conducted last spring.