Photo: Darren Kirby · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Kaslo trail those of 91% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Kaslo stood at 9.7% on census day 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Most commutes from Kaslo take well under an hour: the average is 17.5 minutes, and 6.5% take 60 minutes or longer. At the 2021 census, 75% of Kaslo’s 15-to-64s were in work; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Kaslo at work: what stands out
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $58,300 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
490 people work in Kaslo and 300 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 17.5 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 6.5% 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.
On jobs and income, Kaslo grades C+
Better than 43% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
Kaslo households: $58,300 a year at the median
Kaslo’s median is 33% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Central Kootenay census division has a higher median. 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).
Workers pour into Kaslo: 57% more on a working day
Each resident commuting out of Kaslo is matched by about 4 coming in. Of those who commute, 77% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Kaslo
Trips under 15 minutes: 70%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 15.8 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.
258 people come into Kaslo to work, most from Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay and Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay
- Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay25
- Nelson10
- New Denver10
Of everyone working in Kaslo, 53% come in from elsewhere; 210 make the 25 km trip from Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay. Outbound, Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay takes the most: 25 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Kaslo
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Central Kootenay census division, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 54% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 54% of residents that age. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 49%. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 31% of Kaslo’s commuters
The car takes 60% of commuters here, under the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Home was the workplace for 8.2%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Central Kootenay census division, 24% more people receive EI than in 2019
The highest month was January 2021: 3,650 people, 2.4 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.8 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 15%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (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).
Walkability in Kaslo: graded A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Kaslo: the places around it
Kaslo has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 25–58 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaslo | 75% | 9.7% | $58K | 17.5 min | C+ | A+ |
| Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay 24.8 km | 69% | 15% | $54K | 23.7 min | D | C+ |
| Electoral Area F, Central Kootenay 49.7 km | 75% | 8.4% | $88K | 23.6 min | B | C |
| Nelson 53.9 km | 78% | 9.5% | $73K | 17.6 min | B+ | A+ |
| Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay 55.1 km | 79% | 8.2% | $70K | 29.5 min | C | B |
| Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay 58 km | 71% | 13% | $58K | 31.4 min | D− | B− |
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 Kaslo, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Kaslo
How many jobs are there in Kaslo?
The 2021 census counted about 490 people working in Kaslo: 1.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 75 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kaslo?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kootenay economic region at 4.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.7%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Kaslo?
Kaslo’s middle household had $58,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Kaslo get to work?
By car: 60% of commuters, 31% walk; on census day 8.2% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Kaslo?
17.5 minutes is the average trip, with 70% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 6.5% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Kaslo work?
77% work in Kaslo itself; of those who leave, the most go to Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay (25), then Nelson (10).
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).