Photo: Marlon Richmond · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Sunset top those of 78% of Canadian towns
30% of its commuters take public transit. A typical one-way commute from Sunset lasts 31.2 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. At the 2021 census, 72% of Sunset’s 15-to-64s were in work, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Sunset at work: what stands out
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 72% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 60%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 31.2 minutes; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. 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 Sunset: graded C
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #188 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 34% of Sunset’s commuters
63% drive to work, fewer than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 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 many in Sunset were working in 2021
Of the 95 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 40 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 65% of residents that age. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 60% of residents 15 and over were in work. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 63% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 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.
What households earned in Sunset: $92,500 in 2020
54 of the 95 other places of 2,500+ in the Greater Vancouver census division have a higher median. The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Sunset is 6% above it. 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).
In the Greater Vancouver census division, 63% more people receive EI than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.6 are on EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 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. Data for EI beneficiaries covers 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).
Everyday places on foot in Sunset: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #18 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
112th of 176: where Sunset ranks among Canadian towns of 26,000 to 50,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 83% | 6.8% | $112K | A |
| 13 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| 14 | Fairview British Columbia | 33,969 | 86% | 6.9% | $83K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 110 | Mission British Columbia | 47,280 | 73% | 6.7% | $98K | C |
| 111 | Langley British Columbia | 35,444 | 77% | 6.9% | $77K | C |
| 112 | Sunset British Columbia | 37,186 | 72% | 8.9% | $93K | C |
| 113 | Central Erin Mills Ontario | 36,393 | 68% | 13% | $113K | C |
| 114 | Hastings-Sunrise British Columbia | 36,072 | 73% | 9.6% | $86K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 176 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Sunset, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Sunset
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset | 72% | 8.9% | $93K | 31.2 min | C | A+ |
| Victoria-Fraserview 2.1 km | 71% | 10% | $87K | 31.5 min | C− | A+ |
| Oakridge 2.4 km | 68% | 10% | $90K | 27.8 min | C | A+ |
| Kensington-Cedar Cottage 2.7 km | 73% | 10% | $92K | 29.6 min | C+ | A+ |
| Marpole 2.8 km | 70% | 10% | $68K | 30.1 min | D | A+ |
| Riley Park 2.8 km | 80% | 7.1% | $107K | 27.6 min | A− | A+ |
| Little Saigon 3.3 km | 80% | 7.7% | $96K | 28.7 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 Sunset, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Sunset’s census figures are summed from its dissemination areas. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages are published only for the whole municipality, so they are on Vancouver’s page.
Questions about work in Sunset
What is the average household income in Sunset?
The median household in Sunset had $92,500 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Sunset get to work?
63% of commuters drive, 30% take public transit, 2.9% walk and 1% cycle; 16% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Sunset?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Vancouver as one municipality.
What is the unemployment rate in Sunset?
The census put unemployment at 8.9% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Vancouver metro area at 6.7%.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).