Photo: William Matheson · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Houston top those of 64% of Canadian towns
12% of the labour force in Houston was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Getting to work from Houston takes 17 minutes on average, an hour or more for 7.8%. Houston counted 75% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Houston, in a few figures
A local job centre
1,425 people work in Houston and 1,085 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 17 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 7.8% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Houston: A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #49 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.
Houston fills up on a working day: 29% more workers
About 4 people arrive to work in Houston for each resident who goes out. 89% 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.
At 17 minutes, commutes from Houston are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 76%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 17.3 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.
463 people come into Houston to work, most from Bulkley-Nechako G and Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako
- Bulkley-Nechako G180
- Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako75
- Telkwa55
- Smithers35
- Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako30
- Electoral Area E, Bulkley-Nechako25
- Vancouver10
- Nisga'a10
- Burns Lake10
- Prince George10
- Smithers35
- Burns Lake15
- Kitimat-Stikine D (RDA)10
- Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako10
- Granisle10
- Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako10
- Prince George10
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 Houston were working in 2021
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 68% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 60%: many residents are past working age. In October 2026, 61% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 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.
Median household income in Houston: $83,700 in 2020
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division has a higher median. Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Houston’s median is 4% below. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 9.3% of commuters in Houston
88% drive to work, more than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Home was the workplace for 6.9%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.9% 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: 7.4% against 4.6%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Bulkley-Nechako census division, the count on EI is close to where it was in 2019
The highest month was April 2021: 2,240 people, 1.8 times the 2019 level. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 5.5 are on EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 2%.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Bulkley-Nechako census division, Houston included.
The walkability of Houston: A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #142 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Houston ranks: 131st of 639 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 84% | 6.4% | $100K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 59 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 76% | 12% | $86K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 63 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 129 | West River Prince Edward Island | 4,155 | 82% | 7.3% | $94K | A− |
| 130 | Saint-Dominique Quebec | 3,062 | 84% | 4.5% | $84K | A− |
| 131 | Houston British Columbia | 3,114 | 75% | 12% | $84K | A− |
| 132 | Westbrook Estates Alberta | 2,838 | 75% | 11% | $140K | A− |
| 133 | Granville Alberta | 2,994 | 79% | 8.9% | $137K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Houston, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Houston
No closer places have figures: these lie 42–61 km from Houston.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 75% | 12% | $84K | 17 min | A− | A− |
| Telkwa 41.5 km | 75% | 5.4% | $102K | 27.4 min | B | C |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako 51.2 km | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | 19.8 min | A+ | D |
| Smithers 54.8 km | 83% | 6% | $85K | 13.3 min | A+ | A+ |
| Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako 59.7 km | 68% | 14% | $94K | 23.7 min | B− | D |
| Burns Lake 61.2 km | 80% | 7.9% | $78K | 15.4 min | A | 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 Houston, 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. 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. 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.
Questions about work in Houston
How many jobs are there in Houston?
The 2021 census counted about 1,425 people working in Houston: 1.3 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 154 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Houston?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 12% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the North Coast and Nechako economic region at 5.5% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Houston?
Before tax, half the households in Houston had more than $83,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Houston get to work?
By car: 88% of commuters, 1.9% take public transit and 7.4% walk; on census day 6.9% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Houston?
17 minutes is the average trip, with 76% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 7.8% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Houston work?
Most stay: 89% work in Houston. The rest go first to Smithers (35) and Burns Lake (15).
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).