Saint Stephen has 0.5 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
The median household in Saint Stephen had $66,200 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. In Saint Stephen, 67% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Saint Stephen takes 21.2 minutes on average, an hour or more for 7.8%.
The short version on work in Saint Stephen
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 67% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 52%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $66,200 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 21.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.8% 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.
On jobs and income, Saint Stephen grades C−
Better than 25% 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.
Who in Saint Stephen has a job
None of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Charlotte census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 52%. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 59% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 58% 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.
How Saint Stephen’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 75% of Canadian towns.
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 or more in the Charlotte census division, 2 have a higher median. Against the middle of New Brunswick’s towns ($73,200), Saint Stephen’s median is 10% below. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
The length of the trip to work in Saint Stephen
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 56%, 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
Saint Stephen empties a little on a working day
505 residents of Saint Stephen had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 255 people had theirs in Saint Stephen, wherever they lived.
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. 12% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
88% of Saint Stephen’s residents in work leave it to work; St. Stephen takes the most
- St. Stephen60
- Saint James60
- Saint David40
- Saint Andrews10
- Saint Croix10
- Dumbarton10
- St. Stephen280
- Saint Andrews40
- Saint David35
- St. George25
- Saint John15
- Blacks Harbour15
- Saint George10
- Saint Croix10
- Saint James10
Of those coming in, St. Stephen supplies the most: 60.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Saint Stephen work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 1.6% of Saint Stephen’s commuters
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 6.4% 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 96% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
17% fewer people are on EI in the Charlotte census division than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 5%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,730 people on EI, 1.8 times 2019’s average. Roughly 7.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw 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 Charlotte census division, Saint Stephen included.
Everyday places on foot in Saint Stephen: D
Better than 6% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work next door to Saint Stephen
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Stephen | 67% | 10% | $66K | 21.2 min | C− | D |
| St. Stephen 4.8 km | 72% | 9.6% | $56K | 15.2 min | C+ | A− |
| Saint David 5 km | 67% | 10% | $67K | 21 min | C | D |
| Saint James 9.9 km | 75% | 14% | $61K | 28.1 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 Saint Stephen, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s 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. 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Saint Stephen
What is the average household income in Saint Stephen?
Saint Stephen’s middle household had $66,200 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Saint Stephen get to work?
Driving takes 96% of commuters to work, 1.6% walk, and on census day 6.4% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Saint Stephen?
About 21.2 minutes on average, with 56% under a quarter-hour and 7.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Saint Stephen work?
12% work in Saint Stephen itself. Of those who leave, the most go to St. Stephen (280), then Saint Andrews (40).
How many jobs are there in Saint Stephen?
Statistics Canada counted 56 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Saint Stephen?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 10% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Saint John-St. Stephen economic region at 6% in October 2026.
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).