Photo: Kiyoteru Awaji · CC BY 4.0Kamloops has higher household incomes than 71% of Canadian towns
In Kamloops, 75% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Kamloops take well under an hour: the average is 20.2 minutes, and 4% take 60 minutes or longer. Out of work in May 2021: 7.4% of Kamloops’ labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Kamloops, in a few figures
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 7.4% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 4.4% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 20.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4% 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.
Kamloops grades A− for jobs and income
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #61 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.
Work and the working-age population of Kamloops
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Thompson-Nicola census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 61% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 64%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 59%. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
How long the commute from Kamloops takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.1 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 43%, more than the 39% 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.
As many come into Kamloops to work as leave
33,245 residents of Kamloops had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 32,130 people had theirs in Kamloops, wherever they lived.
86% 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.
14% of Kamloops’ residents in work leave it to work; Kamloops 1 takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola, with 800.
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 Kamloops work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
What households earned in Kamloops: $87,500 in 2020
One of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Thompson-Nicola census division has a higher median. Kamloops’ median is 1% above the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 11% of Kamloops’ commuters
The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 2.3% on transit; here it is 4.5%. Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns, at 87%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 14% against 21%.
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.
14% more people are on EI in the Thompson-Nicola census division than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 2%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 7,510 people, 2.4 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.9 are on EI.
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 Thompson-Nicola census division, Kamloops included.
Kamloops earns A for walkability
Better than 85% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #112 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Kamloops is 4th of 40 Canadian towns of 76,200 to 146,900 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 77% | 9.1% | $124K | A− |
| 4 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 75% | 7.4% | $88K | A− |
| 5 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 73% | 9.4% | $88K | A− |
| 6 | Lethbridge Alberta | 113,671 | 74% | 9.4% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 77% | 7.3% | $108K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 79% | 8.1% | $68K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Kamloops, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Kamloops
Distances here run 5–24 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Kamloops.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kamloops | 75% | 7.4% | $88K | 20.2 min | A− | A |
| Kamloops 1 4.6 km | 71% | 7.9% | $90K | 20.1 min | B+ | C |
| Electoral Area J (Copper Desert Country), Thompson-Nicola 21.4 km | 77% | 7.4% | $95K | 27.4 min | B | C− |
| Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola 23.5 km | 75% | 7.7% | $94K | 33.2 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 Kamloops, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Kamloops
What is the average household income in Kamloops?
At $87,500 before tax in 2020, the median household in Kamloops compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Kamloops get to work?
Driving takes 87% of commuters to work, 4.5% take public transit, 5.1% walk and 0.9% cycle, and on census day 14% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Kamloops?
About 20.2 minutes on average, with 43% under a quarter-hour and 4% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Kamloops work?
Most stay: 86% work in Kamloops. The rest go first to Kamloops 1 (2,080) and Electoral Area J (Copper Desert Country), Thompson-Nicola (635).
How many jobs are there in Kamloops?
Some 32,130 people worked in Kamloops at the 2021 census: 1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 3,624 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kamloops?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kamloops metro area at 4.4%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7.4%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).