Household incomes in Salmo are lower than in 94% of Canadian towns
For 2.6% of commuters in Salmo, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 28.3 minutes. Salmo counted 63% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Out of work in May 2021: 11% of Salmo’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Salmo at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 44% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 63%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $56,700 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 345 jobs based in Salmo and 265 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
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 Salmo earn D−
Better than 3% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In and out of work in Salmo
None of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Central Kootenay census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 49%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 44% of residents 15 and over were in work. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 54% in work 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.
What households earned in Salmo: $56,700 in 2020
Salmo’s median is 35% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Central Kootenay census division has 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).
Salmo fills up on a working day: 27% more workers
Of those who commute, 36% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
249 people come into Salmo to work, most from Electoral Area G, Central Kootenay and Nelson
72% of the people who work in Salmo live outside it, 170 of them in Electoral Area G, Central Kootenay, 8 km away. Nelson is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 60 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 5.2% of Salmo’s commuters
Only 7.1% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How long the commute from Salmo takes
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 36%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 25 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.
In the Central Kootenay census division, 24% more people receive EI than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.8 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 15%. In January 2021 it reached 3,650, the most in the series and 2.4 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Central Kootenay 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).
The walkability of Salmo: A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Salmo, compared
Distances here run 8–29 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Salmo.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salmo | 63% | 11% | $57K | 28.3 min | D− | A− |
| Electoral Area G, Central Kootenay 8 km | 65% | 11% | $65K | 31.7 min | D− | C+ |
| Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary 20.8 km | 75% | 6.1% | $96K | 22.4 min | A− | C+ |
| Fruitvale 21.4 km | 75% | 7% | $83K | 24.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Montrose 25.8 km | 73% | 4.4% | $94K | 18.7 min | A− | C+ |
| Castlegar 29 km | 71% | 11% | $81K | 20.1 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 Salmo, 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. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Salmo
How many jobs are there in Salmo?
About 345 people had their usual place of work in Salmo at the 2021 census, 1.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 52 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Salmo?
The census put unemployment at 11% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Kootenay economic region at 4.1%.
What is the average household income in Salmo?
The median household in Salmo had $56,700 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Salmo get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 5.2% walk. On census day 7.1% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Salmo?
On average 28.3 minutes; 36% take under 15 minutes and 2.6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Salmo work?
36% work in Salmo itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Nelson (60), then Castlegar (40).
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).