Photo: Jack Borno · CC BY-SA 3.0Naramata has 0.5 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
The median household in Naramata had $91,500 before tax in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. 34% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs were held by 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Naramata in 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Where Naramata stands out on work
Work near the middle
76% 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 49%. In work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 34% 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.
Jobs & income in Naramata: graded B
Better than 56% 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.
Without a car, 6.1% of Naramata’s commuters get to work
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Driving takes 90% of commuters to work; the middle of British Columbia’s towns has 87%.
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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Naramata
415 residents of Naramata had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 220 people had theirs in Naramata, wherever they lived.
About 3 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. The job is inside the municipality for 26% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
74% of Naramata’s residents in work leave it to work; Penticton takes the most
- Penticton245
- Kelowna30
- Chilliwack15
- Summerland10
Of those coming in, Penticton supplies the most: 65.
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 Naramata work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Work and the working-age population of Naramata
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 54%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 49%. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 56% in October 2026. 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 Naramata’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 77% of Canadian towns.
Naramata’s median is 5% above the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). No other place of 2,500 or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division has a higher median. 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).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Naramata average 26.9 minutes
12% 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). Only 28% get to work within a quarter-hour, 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division run 27% above their 2019 level
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 15%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 5,270 people, 2.6 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.5 receive EI.
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 Okanagan-Similkameen census division, with Naramata one part of it.
Naramata earns B− for walkability
Better than 48% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Naramata: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naramata | 76% | 8.9% | $92K | 26.9 min | B | B− |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen 6.7 km | 77% | 5.6% | $109K | 22.2 min | A | C+ |
| Summerland 7.5 km | 76% | 8.2% | $82K | 21.3 min | B+ | A− |
| Penticton 12.4 km | 75% | 8.4% | $68K | 17 min | B | A+ |
| Penticton 1 14.4 km | 65% | 7.8% | $69K | 20.6 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 Naramata, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured 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.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Naramata as part of Electoral Area E, Okanagan-Similkameen, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Naramata
What is the average household income in Naramata?
The census puts Naramata at $91,500 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Naramata get to work?
90% of commuters go by car, 6.1% walk. On census day 34% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Naramata?
On average 26.9 minutes; 28% take under 15 minutes and 12% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Naramata work?
26% work in Naramata itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Penticton (245), then Kelowna (30).
How many jobs are there in Naramata?
About 220 people had their usual place of work in Naramata at the 2021 census, 0.5 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 96 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Naramata?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 8.9% 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).