Photo: Muskwatch · CC BY-SA 4.0Bella Coola 1 ranks among the lowest-earning Canadian towns by household income
Commutes from Bella Coola 1 average 9.1 minutes, and 0% take an hour or more. At the 2021 census, 46% of Bella Coola 1’s 15-to-64s were in work, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. In May 2021, unemployment in Bella Coola 1 reached 13%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The work figures that set Bella Coola 1 apart
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 46% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 38% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 13% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5.2% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $47,500 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 9.1 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 0% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Bella Coola 1 grades C−
Better than 19% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
Graded against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more; less unemployment and a shorter commute count in its favour.
How the grade works
Census 2021 measures, weighed equally against every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 people or more: the share of residents aged 15 to 64 in work, median household income (2020), the unemployment rate and the average commute. Each becomes a percentile; their average sets the letter.
In Bella Coola 1, 46% of the working-age population has a job
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 56% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 44% of residents that age. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: people in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64, and the census unemployment rate (15 and over); the 25-to-54 rate is Statistics Canada’s own (98-10-0485). The Labour Force Survey and business counts are context, not grade inputs.
A smaller share in work than in almost any Canadian town.
Before tax, the median household in Bella Coola 1 had $47,500
Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Bella Coola 1 sits 45% below. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
Commuting times in Bella Coola 1
Timed exactly, the average is 8 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 88% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
Without a car, 18% of Bella Coola 1’s commuters get to work
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 0.9% cycling; here, 4.1% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 82% against 87%. Only 7.5% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Central Coast census division, 33% more people receive EI than in 2019
Bella Coola 1 doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Central Coast census division.
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 8.8 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 11%. The count topped out in January 2019 at 360 people, 1.6 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walking in Bella Coola 1 earns A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How the places next to Bella Coola 1 compare on work
Bella Coola 1 has no close neighbour with figures; the nearest is 101 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bella Coola 1 | 46% | 13% | $48K | 9.1 min | C− | A− |
| Bella Bella 1 100.7 km | 61% | 8.7% | $61K | 9 min | C | A+ |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Bella Coola 1, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- A First Nations reserve. Bella Coola 1’s figures are its own, though Statistics Canada rounds or suppresses some for small communities. A reserve has no overall grade and sits in no ranked list.
Questions about work in Bella Coola 1
How long is the commute from Bella Coola 1?
The average commute is 9.1 minutes; 88% of trips take under 15 minutes and 0% an hour or more.
What is the unemployment rate in Bella Coola 1?
Two figures answer it: 13% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.2% for the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Bella Coola 1?
Before tax, half the households in Bella Coola 1 had more than $47,500 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Bella Coola 1 get to work?
82% of commuters drive, 14% walk and 4.1% cycle; 7.5% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0323 (EI beneficiaries) · Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (14-10-0459, 14-10-0462) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts (33-10-1176) · grades: TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).