Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0Households in Prince Rupert earn more than those in 82% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 9.5% of Prince Rupert’s labour force without a job, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Getting to work from Prince Rupert takes 13 minutes on average, an hour or more for 1.2%. The 2021 census found 75% of working-age people in Prince Rupert employed; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Work in Prince Rupert, in a few figures
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 75% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 61%. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 13 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 1.2% 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.
On jobs and income, Prince Rupert grades A+
Better than 95% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #11 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.
At 13 minutes, commutes from Prince Rupert are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 72%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 11.3 minutes. 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.
The commute in and out of Prince Rupert balances out
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. 89% 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.
11% of Prince Rupert’s residents in work leave it to work; Prince George takes the most
- Port Edward145
- Terrace35
- Vancouver15
- Langley10
- Burnaby10
- Electoral Area F, Nanaimo10
- North Coast A10
- Kitimat10
- Electoral Area C (Part 1), Kitimat-Stikine10
- Electoral Area E, Kitimat-Stikine10
- Prince George180
- Tsinstikeptum 980
- Port Edward65
- Tsinstikeptum 1030
- Smithers30
- North Coast A15
- Terrace15
- Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako15
- Edmonton10
- Richmond10
Coming the other way, Port Edward sends the most (145).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Prince Rupert has a job
A smaller share in work than in 51% of Canadian towns.
Counting those looking for work too, 67% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 61%. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
The median household in Prince Rupert had $95,800 in 2020
Prince Rupert’s median is 10% above the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 13% of commuters in Prince Rupert
More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 10% against 4.6%. 86% drive to work, fewer than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Only 8.1% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.7% of commuters, against 3.5% 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).
In the Skeena-Queen Charlotte census division, 4% more people receive EI than in 2019
The highest month was February 2021: 1,510 people, 2.2 times the 2019 level. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.6 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 8%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Skeena-Queen Charlotte 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).
Prince Rupert grades A for walkability
Better than 95% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #78 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Prince Rupert ranks: 28th of 611 Canadian towns of 9,000 to 17,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 84% | 5.5% | $77K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides Quebec | 16,222 | 85% | 5.9% | $97K | A+ |
| 27 | Stratford Prince Edward Island | 13,152 | 79% | 8% | $91K | A+ |
| 28 | Prince Rupert British Columbia | 12,903 | 75% | 9.5% | $96K | A+ |
| 29 | Willowgrove Saskatchewan | 9,787 | 77% | 7% | $128K | A |
| 30 | Corman Park No. 344 Saskatchewan | 10,463 | 81% | 5.3% | $121K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 611 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Prince Rupert, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Prince Rupert
No closer places have figures: these lie 112–117 km from Prince Rupert.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Rupert | 75% | 9.5% | $96K | 13 min | A+ | A |
| Kitimat 112.2 km | 71% | 9.4% | $104K | 15.1 min | A | B+ |
| Terrace 113.2 km | 77% | 6.5% | $91K | 15.9 min | A+ | A− |
| Electoral Area C (Part 1), Kitimat-Stikine 113.8 km | 83% | 8% | $97K | 25.9 min | A | C− |
| Nisga'a 114.6 km | 56% | 19% | $81K | 18.1 min | C+ | A− |
| Electoral Area E, Kitimat-Stikine 117.2 km | 73% | 11% | $86K | 18.1 min | A− | 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 Rupert, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Prince Rupert
How many jobs are there in Prince Rupert?
The 2021 census counted about 4,430 people working in Prince Rupert: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 469 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Prince Rupert?
About 9.5%, by the census of May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Prince Rupert?
The census puts Prince Rupert at $95,800 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Prince Rupert get to work?
By car: 86% of commuters, 1.7% take public transit, 10% walk and 0.9% cycle; on census day 8.1% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Prince Rupert?
13 minutes is the average trip, with 72% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 1.2% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Prince Rupert work?
Most stay: 89% work in Prince Rupert. The rest go first to Prince George (180) and Tsinstikeptum 9 (80).
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, 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).