Photo: Mykola Swarnyk · CC BY-SA 4.0Plaster Rock’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census put unemployment in Plaster Rock at 14%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 8.8% of workers in Plaster Rock; the average is 19.9 minutes. Of Plaster Rock’s residents aged 15 to 64, 57% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Plaster Rock
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 57% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 38% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $50,700 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 19.9 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 8.8% 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.
Jobs and income in Plaster Rock earn D
Better than 12% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
In Plaster Rock, 57% of the working-age population has a job
A smaller share in work than in 95% of Canadian towns.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 38%. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 56% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 44% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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.
Median household income in Plaster Rock: $50,700 in 2020
Plaster Rock’s median is 31% below the middle of New Brunswick’s towns ($73,200). In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Time on the road to work from Plaster Rock
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 65%, more than the 44% 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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 3.5% of Plaster Rock’s commuters
The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 11%, under the 21% 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).
About as many people are on EI in the Victoria census division as in 2019
In February 2021 it reached 2,300, the most in the series and 2.1 times the 2019 average. Roughly 7.2 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 1%.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Victoria census division as a whole, not for Plaster Rock alone.
The walkability of Plaster Rock: B
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Plaster Rock: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plaster Rock | 57% | 14% | $51K | 19.9 min | D | B |
| Gordon 6.7 km | 61% | 15% | $61K | 24 min | D | D− |
| Denmark 16.2 km | 58% | 11% | $57K | 31.4 min | D− | 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 Plaster Rock, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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.
- 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 Plaster Rock
What is the unemployment rate in Plaster Rock?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 14% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Edmundston-Woodstock economic region at 6.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Plaster Rock?
At $50,700 before tax in 2020, the median household in Plaster Rock compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Plaster Rock get to work?
By car: 91% of commuters, 3.5% walk; on census day 11% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Plaster Rock?
19.9 minutes is the average trip, with 65% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.8% 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, 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).