Photo: GerthMichael · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Princeton earn less than those in 76% of Canadian towns
Princeton had an unemployment rate of 11% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Jobs located in Princeton: 1,495, for 920 residents with a usual workplace. 69% of people aged 15 to 64 in Princeton had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
What sets Princeton apart on jobs and income
Lower incomes than most towns
At $65,700 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
1,495 people work in Princeton and 920 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; 4.2% 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 Princeton: graded C+
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #183 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.
$65,700 a year: the median household in Princeton
That puts Princeton 24% below the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. Of the 6 other places of 2,500 or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division, 5 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).
Every working day, Princeton’s workforce grows by 56%
Princeton takes in some 6 workers for every resident it sends out. Of those who commute, 86% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Princeton has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 18.3 minutes
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 56%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 4.2% of commuters, under the 6.3% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 15.9 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.
702 people come into Princeton to work, most from Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen and Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen
Of everyone working in Princeton, 47% come in from elsewhere; 440 make the 20 km trip from Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen. Outbound, Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen takes the most: 45 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Princeton
None of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 56% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 53%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 48% were working. 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.
Leaving the car at home: 12% of commuters in Princeton
86% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 9.3% against 21%. 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).
EI claims in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division run 27% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in February 2021, 5,270 people were on EI, 2.6 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.5 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 15%.
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). Princeton doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Okanagan-Similkameen census division.
Princeton earns A for walkability
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #99 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 610 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,100, Princeton comes 394th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 84% | 6.4% | $100K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 76% | 12% | $86K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 60 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 392 | Lakeshore Ontario | 3,127 | 77% | 11% | $80K | C+ |
| 393 | Saint-André-d'Argenteuil Quebec | 3,300 | 81% | 5.5% | $70K | C+ |
| 394 | Princeton British Columbia | 3,050 | 69% | 11% | $66K | C+ |
| 395 | Saint-Côme--Linière Quebec | 3,435 | 78% | 6.4% | $64K | C+ |
| 396 | Richmond Quebec | 3,419 | 78% | 4.8% | $52K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 610 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Princeton, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
How Princeton compares with the places nearby
The nearest places to Princeton with figures are 20–64 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton | 69% | 11% | $66K | 18.3 min | C+ | A |
| Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen 20.5 km | 64% | 12% | $72K | 28.2 min | D | D |
| Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen 47.8 km | 63% | 15% | $52K | 28.8 min | D− | B− |
| Keremeos 57.8 km | 64% | 10% | $53K | 25.6 min | D | A |
| Summerland 63.2 km | 76% | 8.2% | $82K | 21.3 min | B+ | A− |
| Penticton 1 63.9 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 Princeton, 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. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. 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. 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Princeton
How do people in Princeton get to work?
86% of commuters drive, 12% walk; 9.3% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Princeton?
The average commute is 18.3 minutes; 56% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.2% an hour or more.
Where do people in Princeton work?
Most stay: 86% work in Princeton. The rest go first to Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen (45) and Vancouver (25).
How many jobs are there in Princeton?
The 2021 census found about 1,495 people with their usual workplace in Princeton, or 1.6 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 122 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Princeton?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 11% 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.
What is the average household income in Princeton?
Before tax, half the households in Princeton had more than $65,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).