Photo: Kevstan · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Nakusp have lower incomes than those in 74% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census found 75% of working-age people in Nakusp employed, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Nakusp: 675, for 425 residents with a usual workplace. When the 2021 census was taken, 15% of people in Nakusp who wanted a job had none, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Nakusp stands out on work
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 15% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 4.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $66,800 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
675 people work in Nakusp and 425 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 15% 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.
On jobs and income, Nakusp grades C+
Better than 44% 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.
Who in Nakusp has a job
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Central Kootenay census division, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 54% in work in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 58% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 49%: many residents are past working age. 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.
Household income in Nakusp: $66,800 at the median
6 of the 10 other places of 2,500+ in the Central Kootenay census division have a higher median. Nakusp’s median is 23% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). 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).
Every working day, Nakusp’s workforce grows by 53%
For every resident who leaves Nakusp for work, about 8 people come in. 91% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 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 Nakusp average 21 minutes
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 21.2 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.
288 people come into Nakusp to work, most from Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay and Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay
- New Denver10
- Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay10
Of everyone working in Nakusp, 43% come in from elsewhere; 190 make the 11 km trip from Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay. Of residents who leave for work, most head to New Denver (10).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Nakusp gets to work without a car for 19% of commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 79% against 87%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 7.5% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. By bike: 4% of commuters, well above the 0.9% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Central Kootenay census division, 24% more people receive EI than in 2019
Roughly 4.8 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. The count topped out in January 2021 at 3,650 people, 2.4 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Central Kootenay census division, with Nakusp one part of it.
The Walkability grade for Nakusp: A
Better than 93% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Nakusp
Nakusp has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 11–74 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nakusp | 75% | 15% | $67K | 21 min | C+ | A |
| Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay 10.7 km | 63% | 18% | $61K | 23.5 min | D | C |
| Electoral Area D, Central Kootenay 54.7 km | 69% | 15% | $54K | 23.7 min | D | C+ |
| Electoral Area E, North Okanagan 59.3 km | 62% | 15% | $54K | 40.2 min | D− | D |
| Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay 72.1 km | 71% | 13% | $58K | 31.4 min | D− | B− |
| Kaslo 73.9 km | 75% | 9.7% | $58K | 17.5 min | C+ | 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 Nakusp, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- 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. 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. 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. 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.
- 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 Nakusp
What is the unemployment rate in Nakusp?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kootenay economic region at 4.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 15%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Nakusp?
Nakusp’s middle household had $66,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Nakusp get to work?
Driving takes 79% of commuters to work, 15% walk and 4% cycle, and on census day 7.5% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Nakusp?
About 21 minutes on average, with 73% under a quarter-hour and 15% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Nakusp work?
91% work in Nakusp itself; of those who leave, the most go to New Denver (10), then Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay (10).
How many jobs are there in Nakusp?
Some 675 people worked in Nakusp at the 2021 census: 1.6 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 113 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).