Photo: Bell and Jeff from Wellington, New Zealand · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Vanderhoof are higher than in 75% of Canadian towns
At the 2021 census, 74% of Vanderhoof’s 15-to-64s were in work, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. From Vanderhoof, the drive or ride to work averages 14.4 minutes, with 3.8% going an hour or longer. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 8.2% of Vanderhoof’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The short version on work in Vanderhoof
A local job centre
With 2,600 jobs based in Vanderhoof and 1,575 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 14.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.8% 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.
Vanderhoof earns A for jobs and income
Better than 91% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #20 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.
On a working day Vanderhoof gains 57% in workers
About 7 people arrive to work in Vanderhoof for each resident who goes out. 90% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Vanderhoof
The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Timed exactly, the average is 12.9 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.
1,187 people come into Vanderhoof to work, most from Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako and Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako
- Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako805
- Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako100
- Prince George100
- Fraser Lake35
- Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George30
- Fort St. James25
- Nautley (Fort Fraser) 115
- Electoral Area C, Bulkley-Nechako10
- Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako10
- Stony Creek 110
- Fraser Lake35
- Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako35
- Prince George30
- Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako15
- Fort St. James10
- Stony Creek 110
46% of the people who work in Vanderhoof live outside it, 805 of them in Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako, 10 km away. Going the other way, Fraser Lake is the biggest single destination (35).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Vanderhoof
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 60%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 61% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
Half the households in Vanderhoof had more than $90,500 in 2020
One of the 4 other places of 2,500+ in the Bulkley-Nechako census division has a higher median. Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Vanderhoof sits 4% above. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
7.6% of commuters from Vanderhoof go without a car
Nearly everyone drives: 91% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 11% against 21%. Few ride transit: 0.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
About as many people are on EI in the Bulkley-Nechako census division as in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 2%. The highest month was April 2021: 2,240 people, 1.8 times the 2019 level. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 5.5 receive EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Bulkley-Nechako 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 Vanderhoof: B
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #169 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Vanderhoof is 54th of 715 Canadian towns of 3,200 to 6,100 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 52 | Island Lakes Manitoba | 4,148 | 79% | 7.7% | $134K | A |
| 53 | Patricia Heights Alberta | 4,355 | 77% | 11% | $133K | A |
| 54 | Vanderhoof British Columbia | 4,545 | 74% | 8.2% | $91K | A |
| 55 | Confederation Park Saskatchewan | 5,771 | 77% | 9.3% | $94K | A |
| 56 | Spring Valley Ontario | 4,175 | 79% | 11% | $142K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 715 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Vanderhoof, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Vanderhoof
Distances here run 10–74 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Vanderhoof.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderhoof | 74% | 8.2% | $91K | 14.4 min | A | B |
| Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako 10 km | 67% | 15% | $87K | 27 min | C | C− |
| Electoral Area C, Bulkley-Nechako 49.6 km | 73% | 10% | $93K | 23 min | B+ | D− |
| Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako 50 km | 54% | 14% | $75K | 28.7 min | D | D |
| Fort St. James 50.4 km | 68% | 9.6% | $90K | 19.2 min | B+ | A |
| Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George 73.7 km | 79% | 5.4% | $121K | 30.5 min | B+ | 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 Vanderhoof, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Vanderhoof
What is the average household income in Vanderhoof?
Vanderhoof’s middle household had $90,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Vanderhoof get to work?
91% of commuters go by car, 0.5% take public transit, 4.9% walk and 2.2% cycle. On census day 11% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Vanderhoof?
On average 14.4 minutes; 74% take under 15 minutes and 3.8% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Vanderhoof work?
90% work in Vanderhoof itself; of those who leave, the most go to Fraser Lake (35), then Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako (35).
How many jobs are there in Vanderhoof?
About 2,600 people had their usual place of work in Vanderhoof at the 2021 census, 1.7 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 277 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Vanderhoof?
Two figures answer it: 8.2% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.5% for the North Coast and Nechako economic region in the Labour Force Survey of 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) · 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).