Dawson City's 2003 population averaged 1,772. This is the lowest it had been for several years, although the community did grow through the 1990s.
Total Population
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 1,772 |
| 2002 | 1,831 |
| 2001 | 1,845 |
| 2000 | 1,928 |
| 1999 | 1,986 |
| 1998 | 2,057 |
| 1997 | 2,132 |
| 1996 | 2,043 |
| 1995 | 1,995 |
| 1994 | 1,999 |
| 1993 | 1,980 |
Age Distribution
Historically, Dawson City has always experienced major movements of people, both in and out of the area. Today's scale of movement is nothing like that of the town's early days. Still, Dawson City has a few more movers among the local population than do most other Yukon communities. In 2001, the Census reported that 79 percent of the overall Yukon population had lived in the same community five years earlier. In Dawson City, however, the proportion was a little lower: 77 percent.
In contrast to the growth of the 1990s, Dawson City has seen relatively few long-term new arrivals from outside the Territory. Just 9 percent of the town's population had moved to the community from outside the Yukon during the period from 1996 to 2001, either from other provinces or from outside Canada. This compares with close to 16 percent for the Yukon as a whole. The remainder of people moving to Dawson City came from elsewhere in the Yukon.
The Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in makes up about 27 percent of the Dawson City community population. This compares with First Nations representation of about 23 percent for the Yukon population as a whole.
Proportionately fewer children and young people live in the community of Dawson City than in the Yukon as a whole. On the other hand, a little higher proportion of community residents is in the 25-to-44 age group: 33 percent, compared to 31 percent for the Yukon as a whole. This is a carryover of some movement of working-age people to Dawson City during the 1990s to find employment or start businesses. Dawson also has a smaller population over the age of 65 years, just 5 percent compared to the Yukon average of 7 percent.
At the end of 2003, 47 percent of Dawson City's population was female, which is lower than the 50-percent average for the Yukon as a whole.
