Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainNorthampton has 0.3 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
Half the households in Northampton had more than $78,200 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. 75% of people aged 15 to 64 in Northampton had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In May 2021, unemployment in Northampton reached 9.4%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Northampton at work: what stands out
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 75% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 59% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 16.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 1.2% 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.
Northampton grades A− for jobs and income
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.
16.1 minutes from Northampton to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 13.7 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of New Brunswick’s towns, the average commute is 20.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 55% of commuters, against 44% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns: 1.2% take an hour or more, against 2.7%.
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.
On a working day, Northampton loses more workers than it gains
Each person commuting in is matched by about 5 residents going out. Of those who commute, 17% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
83% of Northampton’s residents in work leave it to work; Woodstock takes the most
- Southampton35
- Woodstock30
- Woodstock15
- Wakefield15
- Canterbury10
- Meductic10
Coming the other way, Southampton sends the most (35).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Northampton have a job: 75% of 15-to-64s
A smaller share in work than in 50% of Canadian towns.
Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 59% of residents 15 and over were in work. In October 2026, 56% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 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.
Earnings at home in Northampton: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 52% of Canadian towns.
That puts Northampton 7% above the median of New Brunswick’s towns, $73,200. 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).
Northampton gets to work without a car for 6.1% of commuters
Only 9.8% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. 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.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
12% more people are on EI in the Carleton census division than in 2019
That works out to around 6.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 3%. March 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,150 people on EI, 2.2 times 2019’s average.
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). Northampton shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Carleton census division.
How walkable Northampton is: C+
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Next to Northampton: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton | 75% | 9.4% | $78K | 16.1 min | A− | C+ |
| Woodstock 7.8 km | 74% | 9.2% | $60K | 16.7 min | C+ | B |
| Woodstock 8 km | 79% | 7.7% | $81K | 17.6 min | A | D |
| Wakefield 17.6 km | 81% | 7.3% | $71K | 18.8 min | A− | C− |
| Southampton 17.9 km | 73% | 11% | $70K | 30.9 min | D | D− |
| Richmond 19.2 km | 69% | 11% | $71K | 23.6 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 Northampton, 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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. 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. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Northampton
How do people in Northampton get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 6.1% walk; 9.8% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Northampton?
The average commute is 16.1 minutes; 55% of trips take under 15 minutes and 1.2% an hour or more.
Where do people in Northampton work?
17% work in Northampton itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Woodstock (410), then Wakefield (70).
How many jobs are there in Northampton?
The 2021 census found about 235 people with their usual workplace in Northampton, or 0.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 38 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Northampton?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Edmundston-Woodstock economic region at 6.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.4%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Northampton?
The census puts Northampton at $78,200 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 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).