Photo: Original uploader was Fawcett5 at en.wikipedia Later version(s) were uploaded by Peteforsyth at en.wikipedia . · Public domainPenticton’s household incomes are lower than in 72% of Canadian towns
For 3.9% of commuters in Penticton, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 17 minutes. Jobs were held by 75% of people aged 15 to 64 in Penticton in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Penticton had an unemployment rate of 8.4% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Penticton at work: what stands out
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $67,800 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 13,450 jobs based in Penticton and 11,070 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 17 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.9% last an hour or longer. 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 and income in Penticton earn B
Better than 57% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #112 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.
Penticton households: $67,800 a year at the median
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division, 4 have a higher median. The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Penticton is 22% below it. 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).
On a working day Penticton gains 18% in workers
About 2 people arrive to work in Penticton for each resident who goes out. Of those who commute, 82% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 17 minutes, commutes from Penticton are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 64%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 15.1 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.
4,428 people come into Penticton to work, most from Summerland and Okanagan Falls
33% of the people who work in Penticton live outside it, 1,230 of them in Summerland, 15 km away. Going the other way, Summerland is the biggest single destination (365).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Penticton has a job
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 56% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 51%: 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 16% of Penticton’s commuters
The car takes 81% of commuters here, under the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 14% against 21%. Few ride transit: 1.9%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 4.6% walking; here, 12% do.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Okanagan-Similkameen census division, 27% more people receive EI than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.5 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 15%. The highest month was February 2021: 5,270 people, 2.6 times the 2019 level.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of 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).
Getting around Penticton on foot earns A+
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #65 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
57th of 166: where Penticton ranks among Canadian towns of 27,300 to 52,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 83% | 6.8% | $112K | A |
| 11 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| 12 | Fairview British Columbia | 33,969 | 86% | 6.9% | $83K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 55 | Fabreville Quebec | 48,457 | 77% | 7.7% | $95K | B |
| 56 | Saint-Eustache Quebec | 47,562 | 80% | 6% | $80K | B |
| 57 | Penticton British Columbia | 39,068 | 75% | 8.4% | $68K | B |
| 58 | Des Explorateurs Quebec | 31,128 | 77% | 8.6% | $97K | B |
| 59 | Stonebridge - Half Moon Bay Ontario | 28,714 | 74% | 9.1% | $127K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 166 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Penticton, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in and around Penticton
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penticton | 75% | 8.4% | $68K | 17 min | B | A+ |
| Penticton 1 4.4 km | 65% | 7.8% | $69K | 20.6 min | C | C− |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen 8.3 km | 77% | 5.6% | $109K | 22.2 min | A | C+ |
| Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen 10.8 km | 72% | 8.1% | $89K | 23.3 min | B | C+ |
| Naramata 12.4 km | 76% | 8.9% | $92K | 26.9 min | B | B− |
| Okanagan Falls 13.2 km | 78% | 7.6% | $78K | 24.8 min | B | B− |
| Summerland 15 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, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. 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.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Penticton
How many jobs are there in Penticton?
About 13,450 people had their usual place of work in Penticton at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 1,802 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Penticton?
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 8.4%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Penticton?
Penticton’s middle household had $67,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Penticton get to work?
81% of commuters go by car, 1.9% take public transit, 12% walk and 2.1% cycle. On census day 14% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Penticton?
On average 17 minutes; 64% take under 15 minutes and 3.9% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Penticton work?
Most stay: 82% work in Penticton. The rest go first to Summerland (365) and Chilliwack (320).
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).