Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainPenticton 1 has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.5 for each
Of Penticton 1’s residents aged 15 to 64, 65% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. The average trip to work from Penticton 1 is 20.6 minutes; 6.4% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Half the households in Penticton 1 had more than $68,900 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Penticton 1 at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 65% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 35% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $68,900 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 20.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 6.4% 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.
Jobs & income in Penticton 1: graded C
Better than 27% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Penticton 1: 65%
None of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 35% were working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 56% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Working or looking, 38% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
Household income in Penticton 1
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 69% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Penticton 1’s median is 21% below. Of the 7 other places of 2,500 or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division, 2 have 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).
The length of the trip to work in Penticton 1
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 51%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.5 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.
Each working day, more people leave Penticton 1 for work than come in
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 3 to 1. Of those who commute, 26% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
74% of Penticton 1’s residents in work leave it to work; Penticton takes the most
- Penticton180
- Chilliwack40
- Grande Prairie15
- Greenwood10
- Princeton10
- Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen10
- Osoyoos 110
- Burnaby10
- Kelowna10
- Tsinstikeptum 910
Coming the other way, Penticton sends the most (80).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 1.8% of Penticton 1’s commuters get to work
The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, 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).
27% more people are on EI in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 15%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 5,270 people on EI, 2.6 times 2019’s 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 beneficiaries: the Okanagan-Similkameen 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).
On getting around on foot, Penticton 1 grades C−
Better than 22% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Penticton 1 and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penticton 1 | 65% | 7.8% | $69K | 20.6 min | C | C− |
| Penticton 4.4 km | 75% | 8.4% | $68K | 17 min | B | A+ |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen 8.5 km | 77% | 5.6% | $109K | 22.2 min | A | C+ |
| Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen 10.2 km | 72% | 8.1% | $89K | 23.3 min | B | C+ |
| Okanagan Falls 13.1 km | 78% | 7.6% | $78K | 24.8 min | B | B− |
| Naramata 14.4 km | 76% | 8.9% | $92K | 26.9 min | B | B− |
| Summerland 14.8 km | 76% | 8.2% | $82K | 21.3 min | B+ | 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 Penticton 1, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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.
- A First Nations reserve. Penticton 1’s figures are its own, though Statistics Canada rounds or suppresses some for small communities. A reserve has no overall grade and sits in no ranked list.
Questions about work in Penticton 1
Where do people in Penticton 1 work?
Only 26% work in Penticton 1 itself; the rest go first to Penticton (180) and Chilliwack (40).
How many jobs are there in Penticton 1?
Statistics Canada counted 34 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Penticton 1?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Thompson-Okanagan economic region at 6.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7.8%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Penticton 1?
The median household in Penticton 1 had $68,900 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Penticton 1 get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 1.8% walk; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Penticton 1?
20.6 minutes is the average trip, with 51% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 6.4% taking an hour or more.
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).