Photo: Asahel Curtis · Public domainQuesnel has 1.8 jobs for every resident in work
Jobs were held by 65% of people aged 15 to 64 in Quesnel in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Quesnel take well under an hour: the average is 14.7 minutes, and 3.4% take 60 minutes or longer. The median household in Quesnel had $67,700 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Work in Quesnel: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 65% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 49%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $67,700 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 14.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.4% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Quesnel: C+
Better than 38% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #172 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.
Work and the working-age population of Quesnel
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Cariboo census division, 2 have 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. Counting those looking for work too, 54% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 49% were working. 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.
What households in Quesnel earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 72% of Canadian towns.
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Cariboo census division, 7 have a higher median. Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Quesnel sits 22% below. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Workers pour into Quesnel: 69% more on a working day
3,130 residents of Quesnel had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 5,475 people had theirs in Quesnel, wherever they lived.
Quesnel takes in some 6 workers for every resident it sends out. Of those who commute, 84% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Quesnel
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 13.4 minutes. The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 72% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns.
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.
2,843 people come into Quesnel to work, most from Electoral Area A, Cariboo and Electoral Area B, Cariboo
Of everyone working in Quesnel, 52% come in from elsewhere; 1,465 make the 6 km trip from Electoral Area A, Cariboo. Going the other way, Electoral Area A, Cariboo is the biggest single destination (180).
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 Quesnel work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
7.1% of commuters in Quesnel walk, cycle or take transit
Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Transit takes 0.9% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
14% fewer people are on EI in the Cariboo census division than in 2019
Roughly 4.7 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 7%.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Cariboo census division as a whole, not for Quesnel alone.
Quesnel grades B+ for walkability
Better than 72% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #155 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 7,200 to 13,800, Quesnel ranks 435th of 650 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| 4 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 84% | 5.5% | $77K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 433 | Monterey Park Alberta | 10,363 | 67% | 15% | $97K | C+ |
| 434 | Downtown Alberta | 12,880 | 76% | 13% | $68K | C+ |
| 435 | Quesnel British Columbia | 10,253 | 65% | 11% | $68K | C+ |
| 436 | La Tuque Quebec | 11,309 | 71% | 6.9% | $60K | C+ |
| 437 | Parry Sound Ontario | 7,584 | 72% | 9.5% | $63K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 650 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Quesnel, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work next door to Quesnel
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quesnel | 65% | 11% | $68K | 14.7 min | C+ | B+ |
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo 5.5 km | 69% | 11% | $80K | 20.1 min | B− | C+ |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo 10.5 km | 66% | 12% | $69K | 28.7 min | D | D |
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo 10.7 km | 66% | 9.3% | $69K | 21.8 min | C | C− |
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo 11.1 km | 65% | 9% | $79K | 24.5 min | C | D |
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 Quesnel, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Quesnel
How long is the commute from Quesnel?
About 14.7 minutes on average, with 72% under a quarter-hour and 3.4% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Quesnel work?
84% work in Quesnel itself; of those who leave, the most go to Electoral Area A, Cariboo (180), then Prince George (105).
How many jobs are there in Quesnel?
Statistics Canada counted 482 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Quesnel?
The 2021 census found 11% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Cariboo economic region, is 6.1% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Quesnel?
Quesnel’s middle household had $67,700 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Quesnel get to work?
Driving takes 92% of commuters to work, 0.9% take public transit, 5.4% walk and 0.8% cycle, and on census day 7.1% of those in work were at home.
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).