Electoral Area A, Cariboo has 0.3 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
Median household income in Electoral Area A, Cariboo was $80,300 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Electoral Area A, Cariboo counted 69% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. For 7.1% of commuters in Electoral Area A, Cariboo, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 20.1 minutes.
Jobs and income in Electoral Area A, Cariboo: what the figures say
Work near the middle
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 69% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 50%. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 20.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.1% last an hour or longer. 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.
Jobs & income in Electoral Area A, Cariboo: graded B−
Better than 50% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #136 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
Commuting times in Electoral Area A, Cariboo
A quarter-hour or less for 50% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.2 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes.
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.
The daily tide in Electoral Area A, Cariboo runs outward
It sends out some 5 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 15% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
85% of Electoral Area A, Cariboo’s residents in work leave it to work; Quesnel takes the most
Of those coming in, Quesnel supplies the most: 180.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Electoral Area A, Cariboo were working in 2021
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Cariboo census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 57% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 50%: many residents are past working age. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 59% in work in October 2026. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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 Electoral Area A, Cariboo: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Electoral Area A, Cariboo’s median is 8% below. 2 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Cariboo census division have a higher median. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
4.6% of commuters from Electoral Area A, Cariboo go without a car
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 6.8% against 21%. Transit takes 1.3% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
14% fewer people are on EI in the Cariboo census division than in 2019
The highest month was April 2021: 3,550 people, 1.8 times the 2019 level. That is about 4.7 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 7%.
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). Electoral Area A, Cariboo doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Cariboo census division.
The walkability of Electoral Area A, Cariboo: C+
Better than 44% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #207 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Electoral Area A, Cariboo is 353rd of 699 Canadian towns of 4,300 to 8,300
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 351 | Beaubassin East / Beaubassin-est New Brunswick | 8,138 | 73% | 12% | $83K | B− |
| 352 | Hampton New Brunswick | 4,754 | 76% | 9.6% | $86K | B− |
| 353 | Electoral Area A, Cariboo British Columbia | 6,172 | 69% | 11% | $80K | B− |
| 354 | Woodbine Alberta | 8,075 | 70% | 15% | $117K | B− |
| 355 | New Glasgow Prince Edward Island | 5,502 | 76% | 12% | $81K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 699 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Electoral Area A, Cariboo, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
The work picture around Electoral Area A, Cariboo
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo | 69% | 11% | $80K | 20.1 min | B− | C+ |
| Quesnel 5.5 km | 65% | 11% | $68K | 14.7 min | C+ | B+ |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo 7.8 km | 66% | 12% | $69K | 28.7 min | D | D |
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo 13.2 km | 66% | 9.3% | $69K | 21.8 min | C | C− |
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo 16.6 km | 65% | 9% | $79K | 24.5 min | C | D |
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 Electoral Area A, Cariboo, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Electoral Area A, Cariboo
How do people in Electoral Area A, Cariboo get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 1.3% take public transit, 2.9% walk and 0.4% cycle, and on census day 6.8% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area A, Cariboo?
About 20.1 minutes on average, with 50% under a quarter-hour and 7.1% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Electoral Area A, Cariboo work?
15% work in Electoral Area A, Cariboo itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Quesnel (1,465), then Electoral Area D, Cariboo (55).
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area A, Cariboo?
In June 2026, 168 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area A, Cariboo?
The census put unemployment at 11% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Cariboo economic region at 6.1%.
What is the average household income in Electoral Area A, Cariboo?
Electoral Area A, Cariboo’s middle household had $80,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).