Household Characteristics

Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.

Updated December 29, 2023

Household Characteristics

Household Characteristics	2006 PEC	2011 PEC	2016 PEC	2021 PEC	2021 Ontario
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents	10,319	10,550	10,728	11,332	--
Median value of dwellings (single residential)	$205,000 (2008)	$225,000	$299,800	$600,000	$700,000
Tenure: Owning (%)	81.0%	81%	83.1%	81.6%	68.4%
Tenure: Renting (%)	18.8%	19%	16.9%	18.4%	31.4%
Residential stability (5+ years at the same address)	66.2%	--	72.0%	63.0%	62.6%
Average household size (persons)	2.4	2.6	2.2	2.2	2.6
One person households	22.2%	23.7%	25.4%	27%	26.5%
Single-parent households (%)	9.9%	10.5%	10.5%	10.6%	17.1%
Major Repairs Needed (%)	6.4%	9.5%	8.3%	7.3%	5.7%
Shelter costs: Spending 30% or more of income	--	25.7%	22.8%	16.7%	24.2%
Owner shelter costs > 30% of income	--	22.2%	17.3%	11.9%	17.7%
Tenant shelter costs > 30% of income	--	41.4%	48.9%	37.8%	38.4%
Private dwellings NOT occupied by permanent residents	1,736 (14.4%)	--	2,171 (16.8%)	2,225 (16.4%)	7.4%

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(Prince Edward County 2016 Census Profile) (Prince Edward County 2021 Census Profile)

Median value of dwellings

The median value of houses doubled between 2016 and 2021. See more info at Housing-Owning.

Single parent families

At 10.6%, the percent of single parent families is 38% lower than Ontario. Single mothers are particularly susceptible to poverty.

Tenure: Owning/Renting

The percentage of home ownership is higher than Ontario. This is typical of rural areas compared to urban.

Housing suitability

Housing suitability refers to whether a private household is living in suitable accommodations according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS); that is, whether the dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household. PEC fares slightly better than Ontario.

Shelter costs

Shelter-cost-to-income ratio refers to the proportion of average total income of household which is spent on shelter costs. Shelter consumption costs include: rent, maintenance/repair, insurance, utilities, and transportation. A higher ratio indicates lower levels of affordability.

Spending more than 30% of household income on housing exceeds Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s affordability threshold.

Rented households in PEC are most affected by lack of affordability.

The reference period for shelter cost data is 2021, while household total income is reported for the year 2020. Some household incomes were temparily boosted in 2020 with Covid-19 government relief payments.

Use of housing resources

Private dwellings NOT occupied by permanent residents

16.4% of the housing inventory (2,225 of 13,557 dwellings) may be in use as second homes or vacation rentals. This is high compared to Toronto and Ontario both at 7.4%.

Average household size

The average household size in PEC at 2.2 percent is lower than Ontario at 2.6.

PEC has 2.3 percent of multi-generational households compared to Ontario at 4 percent.

Occupied by one person
3,005 (27%) of households are occupied by only one person, of whom 1,750 are widowed. Single adults are particularly susceptible to poverty.

» Also see Alternative Housing Models that can more effectively respond to local housing needs and changes in demand.