Warfield has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.3 for each
Workers in Warfield spend 17.5 minutes on the way to work on average, and 3.7% need an hour or more. Warfield had an unemployment rate of 7.1% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Median household income in Warfield was $88,900 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Warfield at work: what stands out
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 7.1% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 4.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 17.5 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.7% take an hour or more. 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, Warfield grades A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In Warfield, 72% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Kootenay Boundary census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
57% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 53%: many residents are past working age. In October 2026, 54% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Time on the road to work from Warfield
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 60%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 15.6 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.
Warfield empties a little on a working day
It sends out some 5 workers for every one it takes in. 6% 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.
94% of Warfield’s residents in work leave it to work; Trail takes the most
Coming the other way, Trail sends the most (65).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Warfield earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 73% of Canadian towns.
Warfield’s median is 2% above the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). One of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Kootenay Boundary census division has a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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: 4.5% of commuters in Warfield
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters. 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).
In the Kootenay Boundary census division, 33% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 1,740, the most in the series and 2.5 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Warfield shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Kootenay Boundary census division.
Warfield grades B− for walkability
Better than 53% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Warfield, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warfield | 72% | 7.1% | $89K | 17.5 min | A− | B− |
| Rossland 3.7 km | 77% | 11% | $96K | 18.3 min | A | A+ |
| Trail 4.2 km | 69% | 7.9% | $68K | 15.1 min | C+ | A− |
| Montrose 11.6 km | 73% | 4.4% | $94K | 18.7 min | A− | C+ |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary 14.2 km | 65% | 8.8% | $83K | 22.2 min | C+ | B− |
| Fruitvale 14.8 km | 75% | 7% | $83K | 24.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary 15.8 km | 75% | 6.1% | $96K | 22.4 min | A− | C+ |
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 Warfield, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; 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.
- 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 Warfield
What is the average household income in Warfield?
Warfield’s middle household had $88,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Warfield get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 4.5% walk; 14% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Warfield?
The average commute is 17.5 minutes; 60% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.7% an hour or more.
Where do people in Warfield work?
Only 6% work in Warfield itself; the rest go first to Trail (395) and Castlegar (60).
How many jobs are there in Warfield?
The 2021 census found about 145 people with their usual workplace in Warfield, or 0.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 28 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Warfield?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kootenay economic region at 4.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7.1%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).