Households in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo earn less than those in 88% of Canadian towns
8.5% of the labour force in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. 37% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Electoral Area B, Nanaimo counted 74% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
The short version on work in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $60,300 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 37% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #222 of 254 in British Columbia.
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.
Before tax, the median household in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo had $60,300
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Nanaimo census division has a higher median. Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s median is 31% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). 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).
Without a car, 20% of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s commuters get to work
Transit takes 5.4% of commuters, above the 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. More people cycle to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 6.3% against 0.9%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Each working day, more people leave Electoral Area B, Nanaimo for work than come in
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
26% of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s residents in work leave it to work; Nanaimo takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Nanaimo, with 40.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nanaimo census division, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 42% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 39%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 56% in October 2026. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
24.3 minutes from Electoral Area B, Nanaimo to work, about the middle of Canadian towns
A quarter-hour or less for 50% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. 13% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of British Columbia’s towns has 6.3%. Timed exactly, the average is 24.7 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 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.
EI claims in the Nanaimo census division run 25% above their 2019 level
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.7 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 7,290 people on EI, 2.7 times 2019’s 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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo alone, so this card uses the figure for the Nanaimo census division.
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo on foot: a B grade
Better than 58% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #182 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
578th of 716: where Electoral Area B, Nanaimo ranks among Canadian towns of 3,300 to 6,300
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 576 | Forty Mile County No. 8 Alberta | 3,927 | 61% | 4.2% | $90K | C− |
| 577 | Beaver County Alberta | 6,245 | 70% | 11% | $94K | C− |
| 578 | Electoral Area B, Nanaimo British Columbia | 4,702 | 74% | 8.5% | $60K | C− |
| 579 | Asphodel-Norwood Ontario | 5,308 | 72% | 10% | $81K | C− |
| 580 | WestLake-Gladstone Manitoba | 3,604 | 71% | 2.6% | $63K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 716 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
The work picture around Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo | 74% | 8.5% | $60K | 24.3 min | C− | B |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo 9.5 km | 75% | 8.2% | $87K | 25 min | B | B− |
| Nanaimo 14.5 km | 75% | 8.4% | $76K | 20.5 min | B | A |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley 16.3 km | 83% | 4.3% | $86K | 29.1 min | B | C |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo 17.8 km | 71% | 8.1% | $102K | 25.4 min | B | 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 Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, 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. 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. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region at 5.2%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 8.5%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
At $60,300 before tax in 2020, the median household in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo get to work?
74% of commuters drive, 5.4% take public transit, 8.3% walk and 6.3% cycle; 37% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
The average commute is 24.3 minutes; 50% of trips take under 15 minutes and 13% an hour or more.
Where do people in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo work?
74% work in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo itself; of those who leave, the most go to Nanaimo (100), then North Vancouver (10).
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
The 2021 census found about 555 people with their usual workplace in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 120 businesses with employees in June 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).