Photo: Northwest · CC BY-SA 4.0Edmonds has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 69% of Canadian towns
27% of its commuters take public transit. A typical one-way commute from Edmonds lasts 33.9 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. In 2020, a household at the middle of Edmonds had $77,100 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
What sets Edmonds apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 71% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 59% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 33.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting 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, Edmonds grades D
Better than 13% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #237 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 30% of Edmonds’ commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 67% against 87%. 26% of everyone in work 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Edmonds at work: 71% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 95 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 27 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 63% in work in October 2026. 65% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Counting retirees, 59% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Earnings at home in Edmonds: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 50% of Canadian towns.
Of the 95 other places of 2,500 or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 85 have a higher median. That puts Edmonds 11% below the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
EI claims in the Greater Vancouver census division run 63% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in January 2021, 117,570 people were on EI, 3.3 times the 2019 average. That is about 3.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 4%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Greater Vancouver census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
The walkability of Edmonds: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #18 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 24,400 to 47,000, Edmonds ranks 153rd of 189 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 83% | 6.8% | $112K | A |
| 14 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Fairview British Columbia | 33,969 | 86% | 6.9% | $83K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 151 | Laval-des-Rapides Quebec | 41,971 | 74% | 9.8% | $67K | D |
| 152 | Clairlea-Birchmount Ontario | 27,690 | 63% | 15% | $92K | D |
| 153 | Edmonds British Columbia | 34,805 | 71% | 9.9% | $77K | D |
| 154 | Wexford/Maryvale Ontario | 28,591 | 64% | 16% | $85K | D |
| 155 | Anjou Quebec | 43,243 | 74% | 9.3% | $69K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 189 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Edmonds, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Edmonds
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonds | 71% | 9.9% | $77K | 33.9 min | D | A+ |
| Buckingham Heights 1.5 km | 71% | 7.9% | $118K | 29.6 min | B− | A |
| Royal Oak 1.9 km | 71% | 11% | $88K | 31.2 min | C | A+ |
| East Burnaby 2.6 km | 72% | 8.3% | $108K | 31.1 min | C+ | A+ |
| New Westminster 2.9 km | 77% | 8.3% | $82K | 32.6 min | C+ | A+ |
| South Slope 3.2 km | 70% | 9.4% | $104K | 29.6 min | C+ | A |
| Metrotown 3.5 km | 71% | 11% | $64K | 32.5 min | D | 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 Edmonds, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
- Neighbourhood figures. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages stop at the municipality, so Burnaby’s page carries them; Edmonds’ own figures sum its dissemination areas.
Questions about work in Edmonds
How do people in Edmonds get to work?
67% of commuters drive, 27% take public transit, 3.4% walk and 0.4% cycle; 26% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Edmonds?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Burnaby has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Edmonds?
Two figures answer it: 9.9% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.7% for the Vancouver metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Edmonds?
Before tax, half the households in Edmonds had more than $77,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).