Photo: Eric Friedebach · CC BY 3.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Merritt trails that of 84% of Canadian towns
9.4% of the labour force in Merritt was out of work at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. For 6.3% of commuters in Merritt, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 17 minutes. Before tax, the typical household in Merritt brought in $70,400 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Merritt
Fewer people in work than most towns
66% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 47%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $70,400 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 2,370 jobs based in Merritt and 1,935 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 17 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.3% 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.
Jobs and income in Merritt earn C+
Better than 39% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #168 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
66% of working-age people in Merritt have jobs
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Thompson-Nicola census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 56% of the wider area’s adults in work. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 51%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 47% were working. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
How Merritt’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 66% of Canadian towns.
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 or more in the Thompson-Nicola census division, 3 have a higher median. Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Merritt sits 19% below. 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).
A working day adds 20% to the people at work in Merritt
Merritt takes in some 2 workers for every resident it sends out. The job is inside the municipality for 83% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Shorter than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Merritt average 17 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 15.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 71% of commuters, 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.
760 people come into Merritt to work, most from Electoral Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley - North), Thompson-Nicola and Thompson-Nicola N (Beautiful Nicola Valley - South)
- Electoral Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley - North), Thompson-Nicola220
- Thompson-Nicola N (Beautiful Nicola Valley - South)110
- Kamloops105
- Nicola Mameet 145
- Logan Lake40
- Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country), Thompson-Nicola30
- Coldwater 130
- Vancouver20
- Inkluckcheen20
- Douglas Lake 315
- Logan Lake90
- Electoral Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley - North), Thompson-Nicola65
- Kamloops55
- Nicola Mameet 130
- Princeton10
- Thompson-Nicola N (Beautiful Nicola Valley - South)10
- Ashcroft10
- Kelowna10
32% of the people who work in Merritt live outside it, 220 of them in Electoral Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley - North), Thompson-Nicola, 9 km away. The main destination the other way is Logan Lake, with 90.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
11% of commuters from Merritt go without a car
More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 9% against 4.6%. By car, truck or van: 88% of commuters, against 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 9.6% against 21%. Few ride transit: 0.6%, 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).
EI claims in the Thompson-Nicola census division run 14% above their 2019 level
In February 2021 it reached 7,510, the most in the series and 2.4 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.9 are on EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 2%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Thompson-Nicola census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walking in Merritt earns A
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #102 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Merritt places 464th of 711 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 5,000 to 9,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 462 | Chandler Quebec | 7,323 | 72% | 9.8% | $60K | C+ |
| 463 | Lake Echo Nova Scotia | 5,223 | 74% | 12% | $93K | C+ |
| 464 | Merritt British Columbia | 7,190 | 66% | 9.4% | $70K | C+ |
| 465 | Dalhousie Alberta | 8,617 | 65% | 13% | $89K | C+ |
| 466 | Rivers Edge / Castlemore Crossing Ontario | 6,577 | 70% | 12% | $146K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 711 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Merritt, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Next to Merritt: how nearby places compare
Merritt has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 9–70 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt | 66% | 9.4% | $70K | 17 min | C+ | A |
| Electoral Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley - North), Thompson-Nicola 8.9 km | 72% | 9.5% | $79K | 25.7 min | C+ | C+ |
| Logan Lake 42.9 km | 68% | 9.2% | $68K | 30.3 min | D | A− |
| Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen 58.8 km | 64% | 12% | $72K | 28.2 min | D | D |
| Electoral Area J (Copper Desert Country), Thompson-Nicola 67.4 km | 77% | 7.4% | $95K | 27.4 min | B | C− |
| Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country), Thompson-Nicola 69.9 km | 78% | 10% | $66K | 25.8 min | C+ | C− |
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 Merritt, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Merritt
What is the average household income in Merritt?
At $70,400 before tax in 2020, the median household in Merritt compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Merritt get to work?
88% of commuters go by car, 0.6% take public transit, 9% walk and 1.3% cycle. On census day 9.6% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Merritt?
On average 17 minutes; 71% take under 15 minutes and 6.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Merritt work?
83% work in Merritt itself; of those who leave, the most go to Logan Lake (90), then Electoral Area M (Beautiful Nicola Valley - North), Thompson-Nicola (65).
How many jobs are there in Merritt?
About 2,370 people had their usual place of work in Merritt at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 261 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Merritt?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 9.4% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Thompson-Okanagan economic region at 6.6% in October 2026.
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).