Photo: Reg Natarajan from Vancouver, Canada · CC BY 2.0Where Langley earns its living
Commutes from Langley average 29.9 minutes, and 9% take an hour or more. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 6.9% of Langley’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Before tax, the typical household in Langley brought in $77,300 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Where Langley stands out on work
Less unemployment than most towns
6.9% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.7% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 11,195 jobs based in Langley and 9,500 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 29.9 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 9% 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.
Langley grades C for jobs and income
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #187 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Work for 77% of 15-to-64s in Langley
Of the 95 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 67 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 61% of residents 15 and over were in work. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 63% in work in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 65%. 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.
Langley fills up on a working day: 15% more workers
Of those who commute, 18% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Langley takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 26.8 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Only 27% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
9,466 people come into Langley to work, most from Surrey and Langley (British Columbia part)
- Surrey3,935
- Langley (British Columbia part)3,090
- Abbotsford640
- Maple Ridge335
- Vancouver185
- Delta180
- Chilliwack165
- Coquitlam140
- Mission135
- White Rock135
- Surrey2,670
- Langley (British Columbia part)2,620
- Vancouver415
- Delta365
- Burnaby355
- Richmond295
- Abbotsford275
- Coquitlam150
- Maple Ridge140
- New Westminster135
85% of the people who work in Langley live outside it, 3,935 of them in Surrey, 12 km away. Going the other way, Surrey is the biggest single destination (2,670).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How Langley’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 50% of Canadian towns.
The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Langley is 11% below it. 84 of the 95 other places of 2,500+ in the Greater Vancouver census division have a higher median. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 11% of Langley’s commuters
More people take transit to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 6.4% against 2.3%. By car, truck or van: 88% of commuters, much as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Home was the workplace for 15%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Greater Vancouver census division run 63% above their 2019 level
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.6 are on EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 4%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 117,570 people, 3.3 times the 2019 average.
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 Greater Vancouver census division, Langley included.
Getting around Langley on foot earns A
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #82 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Langley next to Canadian towns of 24,800 to 47,800: 117th of 185 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 83% | 6.8% | $112K | A |
| 13 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Fairview British Columbia | 33,969 | 86% | 6.9% | $83K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 115 | Du Moulin Quebec | 30,364 | 71% | 9.4% | $78K | C |
| 116 | Mission British Columbia | 47,280 | 73% | 6.7% | $98K | C |
| 117 | Langley British Columbia | 35,444 | 77% | 6.9% | $77K | C |
| 118 | Sunset British Columbia | 37,186 | 72% | 8.9% | $93K | C |
| 119 | Central Erin Mills Ontario | 36,393 | 68% | 13% | $113K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 185 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Langley, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Langley
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langley | 77% | 6.9% | $77K | 29.9 min | C | A |
| Sunrise Estates 2.7 km | 73% | 6.6% | $119K | 27.4 min | B | B |
| Langley 3.1 km | 78% | 6.2% | $108K | 29.7 min | B+ | A− |
| Rosewood Park 3.3 km | 80% | 6.1% | $118K | 29.3 min | A− | B+ |
| Aloha Estates 3.5 km | 80% | 7% | $101K | 29.9 min | B+ | A |
| Clayton Heights 4.6 km | 81% | 6% | $113K | 30.9 min | B+ | A |
| Cloverdale 4.9 km | 74% | 8.5% | $109K | 29.4 min | B− | 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 Langley, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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 Langley
How long is the commute from Langley?
29.9 minutes is the average trip, with 27% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 9% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Langley work?
18% work in Langley itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Surrey (2,670), then Langley (British Columbia part) (2,620).
How many jobs are there in Langley?
The 2021 census counted about 11,195 people working in Langley: 1.2 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 1,233 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Langley?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Vancouver metro area at 6.7%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 6.9%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Langley?
At $77,300 before tax in 2020, the median household in Langley compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Langley get to work?
By car: 88% of commuters, 6.4% take public transit, 4% walk and 0.6% cycle; on census day 15% of those in work worked from home.
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).