Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHow Riverdale works: jobs, income and commuting
Half the households in Riverdale had more than $81,400 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. 73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Riverdale had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Riverdale: 415, for 465 residents with a usual workplace.
Riverdale at work: what stands out
Work near the middle
Counting everyone 15 and over, 61% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 73%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 6.2% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5.8% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Riverdale: C
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
How many in Riverdale were working in 2021
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 7, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 61%: many residents are past working age. In October 2026, 60% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
A commuter town: Riverdale sends out more workers than it takes in
Of those who commute, 38% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
62% of Riverdale’s residents in work leave it to work; Brandon takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Oakview (80).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Riverdale
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 59% of Canadian towns.
Riverdale’s median is 3% below the middle of Manitoba’s towns ($83,900). Of the 4 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 7, 2 have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 6.2% of Riverdale’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van. 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% 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).
28.7 minutes from Riverdale to work, over the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 33%, fewer than the 46% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. An hour or more: 6.2% of commuters, close to the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 25.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Manitoba’s towns averages 23.6 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.
17% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 7 than in 2019
That is about 3.8 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 8%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 3,630 people, 2.6 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of Census Division No. 7. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Riverdale grades A− for walkability
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work next door to Riverdale
The nearest places to Riverdale with figures are 22–29 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale | 73% | 6.2% | $81K | 28.7 min | C | A− |
| Oakview 21.8 km | 81% | 4.5% | $75K | 27.4 min | B− | C+ |
| Elton 25.7 km | 85% | 6.2% | $102K | 25 min | A | D− |
| Whitehead 26.3 km | 82% | 5.2% | $105K | 25.9 min | A | C− |
| Brandon 29.3 km | 76% | 7.5% | $76K | 15.6 min | A− | A− |
| Sioux Valley Dakota Nation 29.4 km | 35% | 18% | $47K | 16 min | D | 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 Riverdale, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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.
- 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. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Riverdale
Where do people in Riverdale work?
Only 38% work in Riverdale itself; the rest go first to Brandon (215) and Hamiota (25).
How many jobs are there in Riverdale?
About 415 people had their usual place of work in Riverdale at the 2021 census, 0.9 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 61 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Riverdale?
Two figures answer it: 6.2% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.8% for the Southwest economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Riverdale?
Riverdale’s middle household had $81,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Riverdale get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 6.2% walk. On census day 23% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Riverdale?
On average 28.7 minutes; 33% take under 15 minutes and 6.2% 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) · 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).