Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area E, Central Kootenay has 0.5 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
Census day 2021 found 8.2% of Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay’s labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. In Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay, 79% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Before tax, the typical household in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay brought in $70,400 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Jobs and income in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay: what the figures say
More people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 79% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 54%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $70,400 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 29.5 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 11% 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.
Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay grades C for jobs and income
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #195 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
How many in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay were working in 2021
All 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Central Kootenay census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 54% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 54% of the wider area’s adults in work. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 59%. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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 E, Central Kootenay: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 66% of Canadian towns.
5 of the 9 other places of 2,500+ in the Central Kootenay census division have a higher median. Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay sits 19% below. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay has a slower trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 29.5 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 27.1 minutes. The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Only 33% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 11% of commuters, above the 6.3% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
A commuter town: Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay sends out more workers than it takes in
945 residents of Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 510 people had theirs in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay, wherever they lived.
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 3 to 1. 28% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
72% of Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay’s residents in work leave it to work; Nelson takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Nelson (125).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 11% of Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay’s commuters
Transit takes 1.8% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 7.5% against 4.6%. 88% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. 24% 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.
EI claims in the Central Kootenay census division run 24% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in January 2021, 3,650 people were on EI, 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.8 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 15%.
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 Central Kootenay 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).
On getting around on foot, Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay grades B
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #174 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 3,000 to 5,800, Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay ranks 518th of 746 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 78% | 7% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 516 | Mill Courtland Woodside Park Ontario | 3,319 | 72% | 13% | $71K | C |
| 517 | Daly Grove Alberta | 3,486 | 64% | 13% | $95K | C |
| 518 | Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 4,309 | 79% | 8.2% | $70K | C |
| 519 | Ormsby Place Alberta | 4,412 | 63% | 15% | $93K | C |
| 520 | Port Hawkesbury Nova Scotia | 3,442 | 63% | 18% | $65K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 746 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay | 79% | 8.2% | $70K | 29.5 min | C | B |
| Nelson 3.2 km | 78% | 9.5% | $73K | 17.6 min | B+ | A+ |
| Electoral Area F, Central Kootenay 7.5 km | 75% | 8.4% | $88K | 23.6 min | B | C |
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 E, Central Kootenay, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay
How do people in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay get to work?
Driving takes 88% of commuters to work, 1.8% take public transit, 7.5% walk and 1.4% cycle, and on census day 24% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay?
About 29.5 minutes on average, with 33% under a quarter-hour and 11% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay work?
28% work in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Nelson (530), then Electoral Area F, Central Kootenay (20).
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay?
In June 2026, 152 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay?
The 2021 census found 8.2% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Kootenay economic region, is 4.1% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay?
Before tax, half the households in Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay had more than $70,400 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).