Photo: Alasdair McLellan · CC BY-SA 3.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Cobble Hill tops that of 86% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Cobble Hill reached 5.9%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. From Cobble Hill, the drive or ride to work averages 30.1 minutes, with 9.1% going an hour or longer. Median household income in Cobble Hill was $91,100 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
What Cobble Hill’s work numbers say
More people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 83% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 47% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 5.9% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 5.2% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 30.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 9.1% 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 Cobble Hill: graded B+
Better than 70% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #86 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.
Work for 83% of 15-to-64s in Cobble Hill
All 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Cowichan Valley census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 56% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 50%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 47% of residents 15 and over were in work. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Time on the road to work from Cobble Hill
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Only 29% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 26.4 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
Cobble Hill keeps its workforce on a working day
1,210 residents of Cobble Hill had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,135 people had theirs in Cobble Hill, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 19% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
81% of Cobble Hill’s residents in work leave it to work; North Cowichan takes the most
North Cowichan sends the largest group the other way, 285 people.
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 Cobble Hill work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Cobble Hill
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 77% of Canadian towns.
Cobble Hill’s median is 5% above the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). 2 of the 10 other places of 2,500+ in the Cowichan Valley census division have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
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 Cobble Hill go without a car
Working at home: 23% here, 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.9%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters.
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.
In the Cowichan Valley census division, 33% more people receive EI than in 2019
The highest month was August 2021: 3,820 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level. That is about 4.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 4%.
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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Cowichan Valley census division, with Cobble Hill one part of it.
Cobble Hill grades B− for walkability
Better than 47% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #202 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
203rd of 705: where Cobble Hill ranks among Canadian towns of 3,600 to 6,800
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 201 | Oliver British Columbia | 5,262 | 78% | 8.4% | $69K | B+ |
| 202 | Howick Ontario | 4,517 | 85% | 3.6% | $84K | B+ |
| 203 | Electoral Area C, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 5,074 | 83% | 5.9% | $91K | B+ |
| 204 | Bearspaw Alberta | 5,192 | 75% | 10% | $100K | B+ |
| 205 | Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare Quebec | 4,615 | 84% | 4.2% | $78K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 705 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Cobble Hill, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Cobble Hill
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobble Hill | 83% | 5.9% | $91K | 30.1 min | B+ | B− |
| Cowichan Bay 5.6 km | 81% | 5.9% | $89K | 25.4 min | A− | B− |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley 6 km | 75% | 7% | $95K | 28.1 min | B− | C |
| Shawnigan 7 km | 78% | 6.2% | $100K | 33.9 min | B− | B− |
| North Saanich 11.1 km | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | 21.8 min | A+ | B |
| Cowichan 11.7 km | 43% | 14% | $76K | 19.5 min | C | C+ |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley 12.4 km | 77% | 6.9% | $84K | 22.4 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 Cobble Hill, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Cobble Hill as part of Electoral Area C, Cowichan Valley, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Cobble Hill
What is the unemployment rate in Cobble Hill?
The census put unemployment at 5.9% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region at 5.2%.
What is the average household income in Cobble Hill?
Before tax, half the households in Cobble Hill had more than $91,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Cobble Hill get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 0.9% take public transit, 2.8% walk and 0.9% cycle; 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Cobble Hill?
The average commute is 30.1 minutes; 29% of trips take under 15 minutes and 9.1% an hour or more.
Where do people in Cobble Hill work?
19% work in Cobble Hill itself. Of those who leave, the most go to North Cowichan (140), then Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley (100).
How many jobs are there in Cobble Hill?
The 2021 census found about 1,135 people with their usual workplace in Cobble Hill, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 196 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).