Photo: Kristina D.C. Hoeppner from Wellington, New Zealand · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Vancouver are more likely to have a job than in 60% of Canadian towns
Transit is the way to work for 23% of commuters here. An hour or more each way is the commute for 5.6% of workers in Vancouver; the average is 28.8 minutes. Median household income in Vancouver was $81,700 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
The short version on work in Vancouver
A local job centre
225,555 people work in Vancouver and 193,970 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 34% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting 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 Vancouver, before the letters
Once Canada is graded, the letter will come from four census figures read against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more: employment of 15-to-64s, median household income, unemployment and the average trip to work.
Each working day, Vancouver’s workforce swells by 10%
193,970 residents of Vancouver had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 225,555 people had theirs in Vancouver, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 67% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Vancouver gets to work without a car for 41% of commuters
The car takes 56% of commuters here, under the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Working at home: 34% here, 21% 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.
95,207 people come into Vancouver to work, most from Burnaby and Surrey
- Burnaby22,005
- Surrey16,025
- Richmond13,575
- Coquitlam6,885
- New Westminster5,930
- North Vancouver5,550
- Delta4,255
- North Vancouver3,655
- Port Coquitlam2,545
- West Vancouver2,240
- Richmond17,770
- Burnaby16,615
- Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver4,660
- Surrey3,995
- North Vancouver3,195
- Delta3,055
- North Vancouver2,885
- New Westminster2,330
- Coquitlam1,760
- West Vancouver1,665
Of everyone working in Vancouver, 42% come in from elsewhere; 22,005 make the 9 km trip from Burnaby. The main destination the other way is Richmond, with 17,770.
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 Vancouver work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
75% of working-age people in Vancouver have jobs
Of the 96 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 60 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 62%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 63% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 68% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Earnings at home in Vancouver: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Vancouver’s median is 6% below. 79 of the 96 other places of 2,500+ in the Greater Vancouver census division have a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
From $43K to $139K: household incomes within Vancouver
Median household income in each of Vancouver’s 29 neighbourhoods: the highest is 3.2 times the lowest. The share of 15-to-64s in work runs from 53% in Strathcona to 86% in Fairview.
| Neighbourhood | People | Household income | In work, 15–64 | Average trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yaletown | 40,297 | $84,200 | 77% | 25.9 min |
| Kensington-Cedar Cottage | 39,668 | $91,700 | 73% | 29.6 min |
| Sunset | 37,186 | $92,500 | 72% | 31.2 min |
| Mount Pleasant | 37,091 | $87,400 | 83% | 26.4 min |
| Hastings-Sunrise | 36,072 | $86,300 | 73% | 29.8 min |
| Fairview | 33,969 | $83,100 | 86% | 25.2 min |
| Killarney | 32,167 | $89,700 | 74% | 31.2 min |
| Victoria-Fraserview | 31,095 | $87,400 | 71% | 31.5 min |
| West End | 30,785 | $65,000 | 81% | 29.1 min |
| Marpole | 28,182 | $68,200 | 70% | 30.1 min |
| Grandview-Woodland | 28,119 | $72,200 | 79% | 28.7 min |
| Kitsilano | 27,320 | $83,600 | 83% | 26.2 min |
| Riley Park | 23,682 | $106,600 | 80% | 27.6 min |
| Renfrew-Collingwood | 23,392 | $87,400 | 71% | 30.6 min |
| Dunbar-Southlands | 21,117 | $131,100 | 66% | 25.9 min |
| Granville Entertainment District | 19,125 | $71,900 | 73% | 26.1 min |
| Collingwood | 18,399 | $79,200 | 76% | 32.8 min |
| Davie Village | 16,833 | $64,000 | 80% | 28.6 min |
| Greektown | 16,618 | $101,400 | 79% | 26.8 min |
| Arbutus Ridge | 15,083 | $88,700 | 64% | 28 min |
| Kerrisdale | 14,105 | $93,000 | 68% | 27.1 min |
| Oakridge | 14,071 | $89,500 | 68% | 27.8 min |
| Strathcona | 13,783 | $43,000 | 53% | 25.9 min |
| West Point Grey | 13,429 | $104,300 | 69% | 25.6 min |
| Norquay Village | 11,287 | $87,100 | 69% | 31.1 min |
| Little Saigon | 11,086 | $96,400 | 80% | 28.7 min |
| Coal Harbour | 10,407 | $86,900 | 77% | 24 min |
| South Cambie | 9,846 | $97,700 | 77% | 27.1 min |
| Shaughnessy | 8,034 | $138,700 | 70% | 26 min |
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: each neighbourhood summed from its dissemination areas; incomes are 2020’s.
Commuting times in Vancouver
Timed exactly, the average is 25.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Only 20% get to work within a quarter-hour, 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.
63% more people are on EI in the Greater Vancouver census division than in 2019
Roughly 3.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 4%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 117,570 people, 3.3 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Greater Vancouver 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).
Work in and around Vancouver
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | 75% | 9% | $82K | 28.8 min | — | — |
| Riley Park 0.8 km | 80% | 7.1% | $107K | 27.6 min | A− | A+ |
| Mount Pleasant 1.1 km | 83% | 7.6% | $87K | 26.4 min | A− | A+ |
| South Cambie 1.3 km | 77% | 7.7% | $98K | 27.1 min | B | A+ |
| Little Saigon 1.5 km | 80% | 7.7% | $96K | 28.7 min | B+ | A+ |
| Fairview 2.3 km | 86% | 6.9% | $83K | 25.2 min | A− | A+ |
| Shaughnessy 2.6 km | 70% | 8.7% | $139K | 26 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 Vancouver, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Vancouver
Where do people in Vancouver work?
Most stay: 67% work in Vancouver. The rest go first to Richmond (17,770) and Burnaby (16,615).
How many jobs are there in Vancouver?
About 225,555 people had their usual place of work in Vancouver at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 36,879 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Vancouver?
At the 2021 census 9% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Vancouver metro area, gives 6.7% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Vancouver?
Vancouver’s middle household had $81,700 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Vancouver get to work?
56% of commuters go by car, 23% take public transit, 13% walk and 5.3% cycle. On census day 34% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Vancouver?
On average 28.8 minutes; 20% take under 15 minutes and 5.6% take an hour or longer.
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).