Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Kimberley
Census day 2021 found 7.7% of Kimberley’s labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Kimberley is the usual workplace of 1,510 people, and 2,345 of its own residents commute to a job. Before tax, the typical household in Kimberley brought in $81,300 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
What sets Kimberley apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
Counting everyone 15 and over, 56% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 77%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
On census day in 2021 7.7% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 4.1%. Unemployment ↓
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, Kimberley grades B
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #100 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Kimberley empties a little on a working day
Each person commuting in is matched by about 4 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 51% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
50% of Kimberley’s residents in work leave it to work; Cranbrook takes the most
- Cranbrook740
- Electoral Area E, East Kootenay125
- Elkford70
- Grande Prairie40
- Sparwood35
- St. Mary's (IRI)30
- Calgary10
- Edmonton10
- Jasper10
- Fort McMurray10
In the other direction the biggest source is Electoral Area E, East Kootenay, with 135.
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 Kimberley work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Kimberley at work: 77% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the East Kootenay census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
61% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Counting retirees, 56% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 54% in October 2026. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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 Kimberley’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 59% of Canadian towns.
The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Kimberley is 6% below it. 6 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the East Kootenay census division have a higher median. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
13% of commuters from Kimberley go without a car
More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 8.8% against 4.6%. Fewer drive than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 84% against 87%. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 1.6%, 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
At 24.1 minutes, commutes from Kimberley are close to the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 23.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 41% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 7.2%.
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.
In the East Kootenay census division, 23% more people receive EI than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The highest month was February 2021: 3,400 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level. Roughly 3.9 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the East 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 Kimberley: graded A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #119 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Kimberley places 256th of 673 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 6,300 to 12,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Fernie British Columbia | 7,086 | 78% | 9.4% | $107K | A |
| 37 | Coldstream British Columbia | 11,380 | 77% | 7.8% | $112K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 254 | St. Norbert Manitoba | 8,251 | 75% | 8.7% | $101K | B |
| 255 | Anniedale British Columbia | 6,715 | 75% | 8.7% | $125K | B |
| 256 | Kimberley British Columbia | 9,037 | 77% | 7.7% | $81K | B |
| 257 | Windsor Park Alberta | 7,863 | 74% | 12% | $82K | B |
| 258 | Lacombe County Alberta | 11,072 | 78% | 8.8% | $89K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 673 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Kimberley, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Kimberley
The nearest places to Kimberley with figures are 19–27 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimberley | 77% | 7.7% | $81K | 24.1 min | B | A− |
| Electoral Area E, East Kootenay 19.5 km | 74% | 6.4% | $81K | 28.3 min | C | C |
| Cranbrook 23.7 km | 76% | 7.4% | $81K | 18 min | A− | A− |
| Electoral Area C, East Kootenay 27.4 km | 76% | 6.7% | $100K | 23.1 min | A− | 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 Kimberley, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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 surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. 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 Kimberley
What is the average household income in Kimberley?
The median household in Kimberley had $81,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Kimberley get to work?
84% of commuters go by car, 1.6% take public transit, 8.8% walk and 2.1% cycle. On census day 16% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Kimberley?
On average 24.1 minutes; 41% take under 15 minutes and 7.2% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Kimberley work?
Most stay: 51% work in Kimberley. The rest go first to Cranbrook (740) and Electoral Area E, East Kootenay (125).
How many jobs are there in Kimberley?
About 1,510 people had their usual place of work in Kimberley at the 2021 census, 0.6 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 293 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kimberley?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kootenay economic region at 4.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7.7%, 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).