Photo: CPG1100 · CC BY-SA 4.0Prince George keeps its workers: 95% of commuters work there too
Half the households in Prince George had more than $88,000 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Commutes from Prince George average 18.3 minutes, and 3.7% take an hour or more. The census counted 32,575 people working in Prince George and 27,190 residents commuting to a fixed workplace.
Where Prince George stands out on work
A local job centre
32,575 people work in Prince George and 27,190 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 18.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.7% 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 and income in Prince George earn A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #63 of 254 in British Columbia.
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.
Every working day, Prince George’s workforce grows by 17%
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 5 to 1 in Prince George.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Prince George takes
The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 49% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 16.9 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
6,636 people come into Prince George to work, most from Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George and Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George
- Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George175
- Fraser-Fort George G145
- Vanderhoof100
- Electoral Area B, Cariboo60
- Electoral Area A, Fraser-Fort George50
- Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George45
- Kitimat-Stikine D (RDA)35
- Fort McMurray30
- Electoral Area F, Fraser-Fort George30
- Quesnel25
Of everyone working in Prince George, 20% come in from elsewhere; 1,370 make the 14 km trip from Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George. Outbound, Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George takes the most: 175 people.
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 Prince George work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In Prince George, 73% of the working-age population has a job
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Fraser-Fort George census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 59% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Working or looking, 66% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 60% of residents 15 and over were in work. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
Earnings at home in Prince George: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 72% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Prince George’s median is 1% above. 3 of the 4 other places of 2,500+ in the Fraser-Fort George census division have a higher median. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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 foot, by bike, bus or train: 7.9% of Prince George’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 90% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 12%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 3.2%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns.
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.
EI claims in the Fraser-Fort George census division run 7% above their 2019 level
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 4%. April 2021 was the busiest month, with 5,300 people on EI, 2.1 times 2019’s average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.8 are on 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). Prince George doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Fraser-Fort George census division.
Prince George on foot: a B+ grade
Better than 74% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #148 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Prince George is 6th of 48 Canadian towns of 60,200 to 116,000 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 77% | 9.1% | $118K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 73% | 12% | $103K | A |
| 4 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 77% | 9.1% | $124K | A− |
| 5 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 75% | 7.4% | $88K | A− |
| 6 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 73% | 9.4% | $88K | A− |
| 7 | Fredericton New Brunswick | 74,655 | 77% | 8.6% | $73K | A− |
| 8 | Lethbridge Alberta | 113,671 | 74% | 9.4% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 66,624 | 80% | 7.5% | $86K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 79% | 8.1% | $68K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Prince George, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Around Prince George: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince George | 73% | 9.4% | $88K | 18.3 min | A− | B+ |
| Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George 13.9 km | 76% | 6.8% | $109K | 24.7 min | A− | C− |
| Electoral Area A, Fraser-Fort George 15.4 km | 75% | 7.3% | $111K | 31.9 min | B− | C− |
| Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George 17.1 km | 79% | 5.4% | $121K | 30.5 min | B+ | D− |
| Electoral Area F, Fraser-Fort George 17.6 km | 73% | 7.8% | $81K | 29.5 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 Prince George, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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 Prince George
What is the unemployment rate in Prince George?
Two figures answer it: 9.4% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.1% for the Cariboo economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Prince George?
Before tax, half the households in Prince George had more than $88,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Prince George get to work?
90% of commuters go by car, 3.2% take public transit, 3.9% walk and 0.8% cycle. On census day 12% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Prince George?
On average 18.3 minutes; 49% take under 15 minutes and 3.7% take an hour or longer.
How many jobs are there in Prince George?
About 32,575 people had their usual place of work in Prince George at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 3,150 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).