Photo: Dr Wilson · CC BY-SA 3.0Perth has 0.2 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
Before tax, the typical household in Perth brought in $60,600 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Census day 2021 found 4.3% of Perth’s labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Of Perth’s residents aged 15 to 64, 76% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Perth apart on jobs and income
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 4.3% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $60,600 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Perth earns C for jobs and income
Better than 26% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, household income.
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.
76% of working-age people in Perth have jobs
A larger share in work than in 52% of Canadian towns.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 56% in work in October 2026. 53% 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 51%: many residents are past working age. 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.
How Perth’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 87% of Canadian towns.
The middle of New Brunswick’s towns is $73,200, and Perth is 17% below it. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
The daily tide in Perth runs outward
Each person commuting in is matched by about 30 residents going out. Of those who commute, 15% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
85% of Perth’s residents in work leave it to work; Perth-Andover takes the most
No other place sends enough people to work in Perth to be counted.
- Perth-Andover125
- Plaster Rock30
- Florenceville-Bristol20
- Centreville10
- Tobique 2010
- Oshawa10
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 6.4% of Perth’s commuters
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 11% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
24.4 minutes from Perth to work, about the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 21.4 minutes. In the middle of New Brunswick’s towns, the average commute is 20.8 minutes. Only 33% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 44% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns: 2.6%.
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 Victoria census division are back near their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The highest month was February 2021: 2,300 people, 2.1 times the 2019 level. That is about 7.2 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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 Victoria census division, Perth included.
On getting around on foot, Perth grades C+
Better than 36% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Perth and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth | 76% | 4.3% | $61K | 24.4 min | C | C+ |
| Perth-Andover 5.9 km | 68% | 10% | $49K | 16.8 min | C− | C+ |
| Tobique 20 9.2 km | 52% | 21% | $53K | 14.2 min | C− | C |
| Kent 17.6 km | 70% | 13% | $65K | 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 Perth, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not 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 Perth
How many jobs are there in Perth?
In June 2026, 25 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Perth?
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 4.3%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Perth?
The census puts Perth at $60,600 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Perth get to work?
By car: 91% of commuters, 6.4% walk; on census day 11% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Perth?
24.4 minutes is the average trip, with 33% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.6% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Perth work?
Only 15% work in Perth itself; the rest go first to Perth-Andover (125) and Plaster Rock (30).
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).