PlaceDossier / BC places / Cariboo
Cariboo, Electoral Area J
An electoral area of the Cariboo Regional District. 616 people lived here in 2021, down 4% from 2016.
Land and hazards
| Here | Rank in BC | |
|---|---|---|
| In the farmland reserve (ALR) | 0.2% | 260th of 267 |
| Burned by wildfire since 1996 | 23% | 22nd of 215 |
| Years with a mapped wildfire since 1919 | 91 | most recent 2025 |
| Under mineral, placer or coal titles | 6.6% | 129th of 219 |
| Land area | 26,674 km² |
Shares of the land area, measured by us from the provincial maps. Fire perimeters before the 1950s are less complete. A title or a past fire somewhere in the area says nothing about a given lot: a property report checks the parcel itself.
Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
Water wells
181 water-supply wells on record; half are deeper than 30 m, and the median tested yield is 57 L/min. Wells here rank 196th of 296 for depth.
Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
Climate
| Here | Rank in BC | |
|---|---|---|
| January mean temperature | -8.8 °C | |
| July mean temperature | 14.2 °C | 231st of 237 |
| Yearly precipitation | 319 mm | |
| Yearly snowfall | 114 cm | 89th of 237 |
Normals for 1981-2010 at the Kleena Kleene 2 station, about 9 km from the centre of the area. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station.
Source: Climate normals 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).
People and homes
| Here | BC | |
|---|---|---|
| Population, 2021 | 616 | 5,000,879 |
| Change since 2016 | -4% | +7.6% |
| Median age | 61.2 | 42.8 |
| Under 15 | 10.6% | 14.3% |
| 65 and over | 38.2% | 20.3% |
| Median household income (2020) | $50,000 | $85,000 |
| Homes owned by the people living in them | 70.5% | 66.8% |
| Single-detached houses | 93.4% | 42.4% |
| Movable dwellings (mobile homes and the like) | 1.6% | 2.5% |
| Built before 1961 | 13.1% | 12.5% |
| Needing major repairs | 4.9% | 5.8% |
| Median home value (owners' estimate) | $278,000 | $785,000 |
| Median monthly rent | $500 | $1,370 |
| Worked from home | 39.1% | 22.6% |
| Unemployment rate | 11.3% | 8.4% |
Bars: the dark bar is this place, the gold mark is BC.
Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
Who lives here
| Here | BC | |
|---|---|---|
| Indigenous identity | 11.8% | 5.9% |
| Immigrants | 26.1% | 29.0% |
| Visible minority | 1.7% | 34.4% |
| No religion or a secular outlook | 59.7% | 52.1% |
Bars: the dark bar is this place, the gold mark is BC.
Shown for context, like the other census figures. We don't rank or score places on these.
Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
Fewer than 1,000 people live here, so Statistics Canada rounds these counts and leaves out some figures (shown as –).
Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines.