Working-age people in Lumby are less likely to have a job than in 73% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Lumby reached 8.8%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Lumby spend 29.1 minutes on the way to work on average, and 13% need an hour or more. The median household in Lumby had $77,300 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Lumby at work: what stands out
More jobs than the typical town
570 people work in Lumby and 505 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 29.1 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 13% 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.
Jobs & income in Lumby: graded C−
Better than 19% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Each working day, Lumby’s workforce swells by 11%
505 residents of Lumby had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 570 people had theirs in Lumby, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 30% 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 Lumby takes
The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Only 30% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 25.9 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
421 people come into Lumby to work, most from Electoral Area D, North Okanagan and Vernon
Of everyone working in Lumby, 74% come in from elsewhere; 205 make the 6 km trip from Electoral Area D, North Okanagan. Outbound, Vernon takes the most: 205 people.
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 Lumby work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How many in Lumby have a job: 70% of 15-to-64s
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in the North Okanagan census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 51% of residents 15 and over were in work. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 56% in work in October 2026. Working or looking, 56% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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 Lumby’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 50% of Canadian towns.
Lumby’s median is 11% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). 6 of the 9 other places of 2,500+ in the North Okanagan census division have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
11% of commuters from Lumby go without a car
More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 7.3% against 4.6%. 87% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Only 9.7% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 2.7%, much as 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
EI claims in the North Okanagan census division run 25% above their 2019 level
The count topped out in February 2021 at 4,850 people, 2.5 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 8%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the North Okanagan 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).
The walkability of Lumby: A+
Better than 95% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Lumby and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumby | 70% | 8.8% | $77K | 29.1 min | C− | A+ |
| Electoral Area D, North Okanagan 5.7 km | 71% | 14% | $79K | 30 min | C− | C− |
| Coldstream 17.8 km | 77% | 7.8% | $112K | 21.9 min | A | B− |
| Electoral Area C, North Okanagan 18.7 km | 76% | 8% | $105K | 22.9 min | A | 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 Lumby, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. 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. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Lumby
How many jobs are there in Lumby?
Some 570 people worked in Lumby at the 2021 census: 1.1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 101 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Lumby?
The 2021 census found 8.8% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Thompson-Okanagan economic region, is 6.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Lumby?
Before tax, half the households in Lumby had more than $77,300 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Lumby get to work?
Driving takes 87% of commuters to work, 2.7% take public transit, 7.3% walk and 1.3% cycle, and on census day 9.7% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Lumby?
About 29.1 minutes on average, with 30% under a quarter-hour and 13% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Lumby work?
Only 30% work in Lumby itself; the rest go first to Vernon (205) and Coldstream (40).
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).