Photo: Gerry Thomasen from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0With 0.5 jobs for each resident in work, most of Electoral Area C, Nanaimo commutes out
Before tax, the typical household in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo brought in $102,200 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. In Electoral Area C, Nanaimo, 71% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. When the 2021 census was taken, 8.1% of people in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo who wanted a job had none, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 71% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 57% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household had $102,200 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
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 Electoral Area C, Nanaimo earn B
Better than 56% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #117 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
What households in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 87% of Canadian towns.
That puts Electoral Area C, Nanaimo 18% above the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. No other place of 2,500 or more in the Nanaimo census division has a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Electoral Area C, Nanaimo is quieter on a working day than at night
For every person who comes in to work, about 2 residents travel out. 11% 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.
89% of Electoral Area C, Nanaimo’s residents in work leave it to work; Nanaimo takes the most
Nanaimo sends the largest group the other way, 130 people.
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 Electoral Area C, Nanaimo
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nanaimo census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 60% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 62%. Counting retirees, 57% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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, 4.4% of Electoral Area C, Nanaimo’s commuters get to work
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 19% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
25.4 minutes from Electoral Area C, Nanaimo to work, about the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 32%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 9.3% of commuters, above the 6.3% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 24.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 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
That is about 3.7 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 7,290 people, 2.7 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Nanaimo 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).
Electoral Area C, Nanaimo earns C− for walkability
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #231 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Electoral Area C, Nanaimo next to Canadian towns of 2,600 to 5,000: 343rd of 769 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 51 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 78% | 7% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 56 | Rossland British Columbia | 4,355 | 77% | 11% | $96K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 341 | Livingston Alberta | 3,929 | 75% | 12% | $118K | B |
| 342 | Patterson Alberta | 4,169 | 75% | 15% | $93K | B |
| 343 | Electoral Area C, Nanaimo British Columbia | 3,733 | 71% | 8.1% | $102K | B |
| 344 | Deer Ridge Alberta | 4,454 | 73% | 14% | $92K | B |
| 345 | Fairview Alberta | 3,909 | 73% | 12% | $85K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 769 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Electoral Area C, Nanaimo, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Next to Electoral Area C, Nanaimo: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo | 71% | 8.1% | $102K | 25.4 min | B | C− |
| Nanaimo 3.4 km | 75% | 8.4% | $76K | 20.5 min | B | A |
| Lantzville 7.7 km | 77% | 6.5% | $98K | 22.4 min | A | B− |
| Fairwinds 15.2 km | 70% | 9.7% | $93K | 26.9 min | C+ | C |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo 15.9 km | 75% | 8.2% | $87K | 25 min | B | B− |
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo 17.8 km | 74% | 8.5% | $60K | 24.3 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 Electoral Area C, Nanaimo, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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 Electoral Area C, Nanaimo
What is the average household income in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo?
The median household in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo had $102,200 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 3.2% walk and 1.2% cycle; 19% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area C, Nanaimo?
The average commute is 25.4 minutes; 32% of trips take under 15 minutes and 9.3% an hour or more.
Where do people in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo work?
Only 11% work in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo itself; the rest go first to Nanaimo (620) and Electoral Area A, Nanaimo (45).
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo?
The 2021 census found about 450 people with their usual workplace in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo, or 0.5 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 135 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo?
At the 2021 census 8.1% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Nanaimo metro area, gives 4.9% 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).