Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in Kent have jobs less often than in 82% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 7.1% of people in Kent who wanted a job had none, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. An hour or more each way is the commute for 11% of workers in Kent; the average is 26.9 minutes. Before tax, the typical household in Kent brought in $78,500 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What the numbers say about work in Kent
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 67% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 54%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 7.1% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5.4% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
1,880 people work in Kent and 1,595 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Kent grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #224 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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 for 67% of 15-to-64s in Kent
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Fraser Valley census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 54% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 62% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 58% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Every working day, Kent’s workforce grows by 14%
40% 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.
1,237 people come into Kent to work, most from Chilliwack and Abbotsford
- Chilliwack490
- Abbotsford110
- Hope65
- Harrison Hot Springs60
- Langley35
- Mission20
- Seabird Island20
- Maple Ridge20
- Cultus Lake15
- Delta15
Of everyone working in Kent, 66% come in from elsewhere; 725 make the 17 km trip from Chilliwack. Going the other way, Chilliwack is the biggest single destination (490).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Earnings at home in Kent: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 53% of Canadian towns.
4 of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Fraser Valley census division have a higher median. Kent’s median is 10% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 9.8% of Kent’s commuters
Transit takes 1.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Driving takes 89% of commuters to work; the middle of British Columbia’s towns has 87%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 18% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Time on the road to work from Kent
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 24.7 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 37%, fewer 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.
EI claims in the Fraser Valley census division run 46% above their 2019 level
The count topped out in July 2021 at 14,860 people, 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 5%.
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). Kent doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Fraser Valley census division.
Getting around Kent on foot earns A−
Better than 81% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #124 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Kent places 592nd of 700 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 5,000 to 9,600
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 590 | Marlborough Alberta | 8,932 | 63% | 16% | $82K | C− |
| 591 | Yarmouth Nova Scotia | 7,129 | 63% | 16% | $49K | C− |
| 592 | Kent British Columbia | 7,093 | 67% | 7.1% | $79K | C− |
| 593 | Emerald Woods - Sawmill Creek Ontario | 5,714 | 58% | 13% | $77K | C− |
| 594 | Edmonton Energy And Technology Park Alberta | 5,225 | 59% | 15% | $84K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 700 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Kent, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Next to Kent: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | 67% | 7.1% | $79K | 26.9 min | C− | A− |
| Rosedale 5.3 km | 74% | 5.9% | $109K | 27.8 min | B | C |
| Harrison Hot Springs 6.4 km | 66% | 8.3% | $76K | 29 min | D | A− |
| Electoral Area C, Fraser Valley 14.3 km | 67% | 5.4% | $71K | 42.9 min | D− | D− |
| Skowkale 16.5 km | 72% | 7.1% | $69K | 24.2 min | C | C− |
| Chilliwack 17.2 km | 76% | 6.6% | $85K | 26.3 min | B− | B+ |
| Electoral Area E, Fraser Valley 18 km | 68% | 6.9% | $73K | 31.8 min | D | 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 Kent, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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. 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 Kent
How do people in Kent get to work?
Driving takes 89% of commuters to work, 1.2% take public transit, 6.6% walk and 2% cycle, and on census day 18% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Kent?
About 26.9 minutes on average, with 37% under a quarter-hour and 11% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Kent work?
Only 40% work in Kent itself; the rest go first to Chilliwack (490) and Abbotsford (110).
How many jobs are there in Kent?
Some 1,880 people worked in Kent at the 2021 census: 1.2 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 232 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kent?
Two figures answer it: 7.1% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.4% for the Chilliwack metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Kent?
Kent’s middle household had $78,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).