Photo: Leoboudv · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Surrey have higher incomes than those in 68% of Canadian towns
Commutes from Surrey average 33 minutes, and 11% take an hour or more. 73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Surrey had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. Census day 2021 found 8.6% of Surrey’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The work figures that set Surrey apart
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 73% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 60%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 33 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 11% 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.
How Surrey will be graded on jobs and income
Employment of 15-to-64s, median household income, unemployment and the average commute: those four census figures, set against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, will make the grade.
33 minutes from Surrey to work, over the middle of Canadian towns
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 18%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 29.7 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.
Surrey empties a little on a working day
It sends out some 2 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 47% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
53% of Surrey’s residents in work leave it to work; Vancouver takes the most
- Langley9,895
- Delta6,605
- Vancouver3,995
- Abbotsford3,160
- Burnaby3,000
- Langley2,670
- Coquitlam2,465
- White Rock2,225
- Maple Ridge2,205
- New Westminster2,080
- Vancouver16,025
- Delta15,760
- Langley12,430
- Richmond12,000
- Burnaby11,585
- New Westminster4,445
- Langley3,935
- Coquitlam3,685
- White Rock2,790
- Abbotsford2,295
Inbound, the leader is Langley (9,895).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Surrey has a job
Of the 96 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 48 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 66% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 60% of residents 15 and over were in work. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
$98,000 a year: the median household in Surrey
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Surrey’s median is 13% above. Of the 96 other places of 2,500 or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 45 have a higher median. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
From $75K to $148K: household incomes within Surrey
Median household income in each of Surrey’s 31 neighbourhoods: the highest is 2 times the lowest. The share of 15-to-64s in work runs from 62% in Bridgeview to 84% in Douglas.
| Neighbourhood | People | Household income | In work, 15–64 | Average trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleetwood | 63,957 | $109,400 | 72% | 32.6 min |
| Whalley | 52,642 | $75,300 | 71% | 37.1 min |
| Newton | 51,222 | $94,300 | 72% | 34.5 min |
| Sullivan | 42,135 | $115,600 | 75% | 32.8 min |
| Strawberry Hill | 37,037 | $92,400 | 72% | 34.5 min |
| Panorama Ridge | 36,473 | $114,800 | 72% | 32.4 min |
| Johnston Heights | 30,971 | $89,000 | 73% | 34.6 min |
| Brownsville | 23,515 | $98,000 | 72% | 35.4 min |
| Fraser Heights | 17,688 | $121,800 | 70% | 30.8 min |
| Grandview | 16,947 | $107,500 | 72% | 29.6 min |
| Sunnyside | 16,784 | $90,100 | 78% | 29.8 min |
| Surrey Centre | 16,482 | $126,600 | 77% | 28.7 min |
| Guildford | 14,663 | $81,100 | 69% | 34.6 min |
| Cloverdale | 13,615 | $108,500 | 74% | 29.4 min |
| Semiahmoo Town Centre | 13,381 | $79,100 | 71% | 29.4 min |
| Aloha Estates | 13,194 | $101,400 | 80% | 29.9 min |
| Provinceton | 11,625 | $128,000 | 75% | 30 min |
| Ocean Park | 10,845 | $117,000 | 68% | 30.3 min |
| Birdland | 10,745 | $98,800 | 71% | 33.7 min |
| Crescent Heights | 9,033 | $130,800 | 69% | 31.6 min |
| Rosewood Park | 9,004 | $117,800 | 80% | 29.3 min |
| Clayton Heights | 8,961 | $112,800 | 81% | 30.9 min |
| Morgan Creek | 8,084 | $133,700 | 73% | 29.3 min |
| Anniedale | 6,715 | $124,700 | 75% | 29.3 min |
| South Surrey | 6,431 | $103,600 | 71% | 27.9 min |
| Port Mann | 5,988 | $102,400 | 68% | 35.1 min |
| Douglas | 4,555 | $126,400 | 84% | 29.9 min |
| Sunrise Estates | 4,292 | $118,800 | 73% | 27.4 min |
| Anderson Walk | 4,210 | $98,900 | 75% | 29.8 min |
| Colebrook | 3,617 | $148,300 | 80% | 30.4 min |
| Bridgeview | 3,511 | $86,100 | 62% | 40 min |
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: each neighbourhood summed from its dissemination areas; incomes are 2020’s.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 16% of Surrey’s commuters
More people take transit to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 13% against 2.3%. The car takes 82% of commuters here, under the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 17% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Greater Vancouver census division run 63% above their 2019 level
That is about 3.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 4%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 117,570 people on EI, 3.3 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Greater Vancouver census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Surrey and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey | 73% | 8.6% | $98K | 33 min | — | — |
| Sullivan 1.6 km | 75% | 7.8% | $116K | 32.8 min | B− | A |
| Fleetwood 2.4 km | 72% | 7.9% | $109K | 32.6 min | C+ | A |
| Newton 2.6 km | 72% | 8.6% | $94K | 34.5 min | C | A+ |
| Panorama Ridge 3.9 km | 72% | 8.8% | $115K | 32.4 min | C+ | A |
| Surrey Centre 4.6 km | 77% | 8.3% | $127K | 28.7 min | B+ | B+ |
| Johnston Heights 4.9 km | 73% | 8.8% | $89K | 34.6 min | C | 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 Surrey, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- 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.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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 Surrey
What is the average household income in Surrey?
At $98,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Surrey compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Surrey get to work?
By car: 82% of commuters, 13% take public transit, 2.7% walk and 0.3% cycle; on census day 17% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Surrey?
33 minutes is the average trip, with 18% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 11% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Surrey work?
47% work in Surrey itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Vancouver (16,025), then Delta (15,760).
How many jobs are there in Surrey?
The 2021 census counted about 128,360 people working in Surrey: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 24,332 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Surrey?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 8.6% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Vancouver metro area at 6.7% in October 2026.
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). 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).