Photo: ValerieWalking · CC BY-SA 2.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Newcastle trails that of 98% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Newcastle had more than $68,900 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Newcastle is the usual workplace of 15 people, and 260 of its own residents commute to a job. When the 2021 census was taken, 22% of people in Newcastle who wanted a job had none, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The work figures that set Newcastle apart
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 52% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 37%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 9.6% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 22%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $68,900 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs and income in Newcastle earn D
Better than 14% 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 Newcastle, 52% of the working-age population has a job
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 47% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 37% of residents 15 and over were in work. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 48% in October 2026. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Household income in Newcastle
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 69% of Canadian towns.
Set beside New Brunswick’s towns, where the median is $73,200, Newcastle sits 6% below. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Each working day, more people leave Newcastle for work than come in
For every person who comes in to work, about 246 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 5.5% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
95% of Newcastle’s residents in work leave it to work; Miramichi takes the most
No other place sends enough people to work in Newcastle to be counted.
- Miramichi175
- Blackville15
- Eel Ground 215
- Dieppe10
- Hardwicke10
- Chatham10
- Fort McMurray10
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
3.1% of commuters from Newcastle go without a car
Home was the workplace for 12%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
23.6 minutes from Newcastle to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.5 minutes. The middle of New Brunswick’s towns averages 20.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 28%, fewer than the 44% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. An hour or more: 4.7% of commuters, above the 2.7% in the middle of New Brunswick’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.
EI claims in the Northumberland census division run 10% below their 2019 level
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 7,050 people on EI, 1.6 times 2019’s average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 11.2 are on 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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Northumberland census division, Newcastle included.
How walkable Newcastle is: D
Better than 13% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work next door to Newcastle
No closer places have figures: these lie 13–26 km from Newcastle.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 52% | 22% | $69K | 23.6 min | D | D |
| Miramichi 13 km | 72% | 11% | $66K | 16.8 min | C+ | B− |
| Northesk 21.1 km | 68% | 13% | $73K | 25.7 min | C− | D |
| Southesk 25.9 km | 72% | 14% | $71K | 28.2 min | C− | C− |
| Nelson 26 km | 76% | 14% | $71K | 26.7 min | C | 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 Newcastle, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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 Newcastle
Where do people in Newcastle work?
Only 5.5% work in Newcastle itself; the rest go first to Miramichi (175) and Blackville (15).
How many jobs are there in Newcastle?
Some 15 people worked in Newcastle at the 2021 census: 0.1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 17 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Newcastle?
The 2021 census found 22% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Campbellton-Miramichi economic region, is 9.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Newcastle?
Newcastle’s middle household had $68,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Newcastle get to work?
Driving takes 92% of commuters to work, 3.1% walk, and on census day 12% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Newcastle?
About 23.6 minutes on average, with 28% under a quarter-hour and 4.7% at 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).