Photo: U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Canada · Public domainHousehold incomes in Thompson top those of 82% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 8.9% of people in Thompson who wanted a job had none, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Commutes from Thompson average 12.4 minutes, and 2.8% take an hour or more. 68% of people aged 15 to 64 in Thompson had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
The short version on work in Thompson
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 68% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 62%. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 12.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.8% 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.
Thompson grades A− for jobs and income
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #47 of 185 in Manitoba.
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.
How many in Thompson were working in 2021
A smaller share in work than in 78% of Canadian towns.
Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Commuting times in Thompson
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 11.5 minutes. In the middle of Manitoba’s towns, the average commute is 23.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 81%, more than the 46% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns.
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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Thompson
Each person commuting in is matched by about 4 residents going out. Of those who commute, 81% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
19% of Thompson’s residents in work leave it to work; Mystery Lake (LGD) takes the most
- Mystery Lake (LGD)460
- Rosser160
- Snow Lake50
- Nelson House 17045
- Lajord No. 12840
- Division No. 22, Unorganized30
- Winnipeg25
- Pense No. 16020
- Gillam15
- Division No. 23, Unorganized15
Division No. 22, Unorganized sends the largest group the other way, 120 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
$95,700 a year: the median household in Thompson
Against the middle of Manitoba’s towns ($83,900), Thompson’s median is 14% above. 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).
Walking, cycling or transit: 11% of Thompson’s commuters
87% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 5.3% against 21%. Transit takes 1.1% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 9% of commuters, well above the 3.8% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in Census Division No. 22 are back near their 2019 level
Thompson doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 22.
August 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,870 people on EI, 2 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 6.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 13%.
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).
On getting around on foot, Thompson grades A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #105 of 185 in Manitoba.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 611 Canadian towns of 9,000 to 17,400, Thompson comes 86th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Linden Woods Manitoba | 11,134 | 75% | 6.1% | $126K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 60 | West St. Paul Manitoba | 10,796 | 80% | 6.5% | $124K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Tyndall Park Manitoba | 12,393 | 77% | 7.6% | $105K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 84 | Saint-Apollinaire Quebec | 9,218 | 87% | 3.3% | $86K | A− |
| 85 | Amos Quebec | 12,773 | 80% | 6.1% | $71K | A− |
| 86 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 68% | 8.9% | $96K | A− |
| 87 | Laurentian Ontario | 11,133 | 73% | 10% | $110K | A− |
| 88 | Richmond Ontario | 9,526 | 79% | 7.7% | $136K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 611 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Thompson, and others among Manitoba’s towns.
Around Thompson: jobs, pay and the commute
No closer places have figures: these lie 64–144 km from Thompson.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thompson | 68% | 8.9% | $96K | 12.4 min | A− | A− |
| Nelson House 170 64.3 km | 45% | 15% | $65K | 14.2 min | C | A− |
| Cross Lake 19A 121.2 km | 38% | 28% | $74K | 14.1 min | C+ | B− |
| Split Lake 171 122.1 km | 43% | 21% | $82K | 14.5 min | B− | A− |
| Cross Lake 19 125.5 km | 38% | 22% | $63K | 12.3 min | C | B |
| Division No. 22, Unorganized 143.9 km | 52% | 20% | $85K | 22.7 min | C | 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 Thompson, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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. 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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 Thompson
Where do people in Thompson work?
Most stay: 81% work in Thompson. The rest go first to Mystery Lake (LGD) (460) and Rosser (160).
How many jobs are there in Thompson?
The 2021 census counted about 4,200 people working in Thompson: 0.9 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 361 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Thompson?
At the 2021 census, unemployment stood at 8.9%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Thompson?
Before tax, half the households in Thompson had more than $95,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Thompson get to work?
By car: 87% of commuters, 1.1% take public transit, 9% walk and 0.5% cycle; on census day 5.3% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Thompson?
12.4 minutes is the average trip, with 81% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.8% taking an hour or more.
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, 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).