Photo: Andybremner2012 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Lillooet are lower than in 76% of Canadian towns
In Lillooet, 78% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. From Lillooet, the drive or ride to work averages 13.2 minutes, with 5.3% going an hour or longer. 8.4% of the labour force in Lillooet was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Lillooet: the figures worth knowing
Lower incomes than most towns
At $65,800 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 950 jobs based in Lillooet and 790 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 13.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.3% 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.
On jobs and income, Lillooet grades B+
Better than 71% 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.
What households earned in Lillooet: $65,800 in 2020
Lillooet’s median is 24% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Squamish-Lillooet 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).
On a working day Lillooet gains 18% in workers
Lillooet takes in some 3 workers for every resident it sends out. Of those who commute, 91% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Lillooet
The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 83% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 14.4 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
233 people come into Lillooet to work, most from Squamish-Lillooet B and Bridge River 1
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 Lillooet
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Squamish-Lillooet census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 55%. Counting retirees, 51% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
Without a car, 18% of Lillooet’s commuters get to work
More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 15% against 4.6%. The car takes 81% of commuters here, under the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Only 10% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% 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).
In the Squamish-Lillooet census division, 34% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 6%. The count topped out in April 2021 at 4,290 people, 4.2 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.7 receive 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). Lillooet doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Squamish-Lillooet census division.
Everyday places on foot in Lillooet: A+
Better than 95% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Lillooet compares with the places nearby
No closer places have figures: these lie 40–46 km from Lillooet.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lillooet | 78% | 8.4% | $66K | 13.2 min | B+ | A+ |
| Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country), Thompson-Nicola 40.4 km | 78% | 10% | $66K | 25.8 min | C+ | C− |
| Cache Creek 45.5 km | 60% | 13% | $56K | 21.9 min | D | B− |
| Ashcroft 46.4 km | 68% | 3.4% | $64K | 19.4 min | C | 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 Lillooet, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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.
- 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 Lillooet
How long is the commute from Lillooet?
On average 13.2 minutes; 83% take under 15 minutes and 5.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Lillooet work?
91% work in Lillooet itself; of those who leave, the most go to Pemberton (30), then Lytton (25).
How many jobs are there in Lillooet?
About 950 people had their usual place of work in Lillooet at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 119 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Lillooet?
The 2021 census found 8.4% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Lower Mainland-Southwest economic region, is 6.9% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Lillooet?
At $65,800 before tax in 2020, the median household in Lillooet compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Lillooet get to work?
81% of commuters go by car, 15% walk and 2.7% cycle. On census day 10% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).