Photo: Valentin8107 · CC BY-SA 4.0Making a living in Vernon
The median household in Vernon had $73,500 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Most commutes from Vernon take well under an hour: the average is 19.8 minutes, and 4% take 60 minutes or longer. At the 2021 census, 74% of Vernon’s 15-to-64s were in work, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Vernon
A local job centre
With 16,315 jobs based in Vernon and 13,345 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 19.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4% 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.
On jobs and income, Vernon grades B
Better than 57% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #114 of 254 in British Columbia.
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.
Workers pour into Vernon: 19% more on a working day
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Vernon. The job is inside the municipality for 72% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Vernon
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 51%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18 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.
6,720 people come into Vernon to work, most from Coldstream and Electoral Area C, North Okanagan
41% of the people who work in Vernon live outside it, 2,075 of them in Coldstream, 6 km away. Going the other way, Kelowna is the biggest single destination (795).
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 Vernon
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the North Okanagan census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 56% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 56% of residents that age. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 52%: many residents are past working age. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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 in Vernon earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Vernon’s median is 15% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). 6 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the North Okanagan census division have 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).
Leaving the car at home: 9.9% of commuters in Vernon
Transit takes 1.4% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 4.6% walking; here, 7.1% do. Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns, at 88%. Home was the workplace for 14%, 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).
EI claims in the North Okanagan census division run 25% above their 2019 level
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 8%. The highest month was February 2021: 4,850 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level. That is about 4.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the North Okanagan 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).
Vernon on foot: a A− grade
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #115 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Vernon next to Canadian towns of 34,700 to 66,900: 35th of 95 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dieppe New Brunswick | 35,986 | 79% | 6.7% | $87K | A |
| 2 | Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf Quebec | 37,164 | 83% | 6.2% | $83K | A |
| 3 | Boucherville Quebec | 41,910 | 82% | 5.2% | $111K | A |
| 4 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 81% | 6.2% | $93K | A |
| 5 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Mount Pleasant British Columbia | 37,091 | 83% | 7.6% | $87K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Saint-Hyacinthe Quebec | 60,874 | 80% | 6.1% | $62K | B |
| 34 | Penticton British Columbia | 39,068 | 75% | 8.4% | $68K | B |
| 35 | Vernon British Columbia | 49,527 | 74% | 8.2% | $74K | B |
| 36 | Yaletown British Columbia | 40,297 | 77% | 8.3% | $84K | B |
| 37 | Rocky View County Alberta | 50,260 | 75% | 9.3% | $150K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 95 | Cecil-P.-Newman Quebec | 34,965 | 69% | 12% | $64K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Vernon, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Vernon
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon | 74% | 8.2% | $74K | 19.8 min | B | A− |
| Electoral Area C, North Okanagan 5.2 km | 76% | 8% | $105K | 22.9 min | A | B− |
| Electoral Area B, North Okanagan 5.6 km | 75% | 6.4% | $83K | 19.6 min | A− | C+ |
| Coldstream 5.7 km | 77% | 7.8% | $112K | 21.9 min | A | B− |
| Okanagan (Part) 1 9.1 km | 67% | 13% | $65K | 28.2 min | D | C− |
| Spallumcheen 17.5 km | 78% | 6.1% | $85K | 24.2 min | B+ | B− |
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 Vernon, 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. 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. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Vernon
How long is the commute from Vernon?
About 19.8 minutes on average, with 51% under a quarter-hour and 4% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Vernon work?
72% work in Vernon itself; of those who leave, the most go to Kelowna (795), then Spallumcheen (600).
How many jobs are there in Vernon?
Some 16,315 people worked in Vernon at the 2021 census: 1.2 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 2,138 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Vernon?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Thompson-Okanagan economic region at 6.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 8.2%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Vernon?
The median household in Vernon had $73,500 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Vernon get to work?
Driving takes 88% of commuters to work, 1.4% take public transit, 7.1% walk and 1.4% cycle, and on census day 14% of those in work were at home.
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).