Photo: Marek Koudelka · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in Salisbury have jobs more often than in 70% of Canadian towns
Of everyone in Salisbury working or looking for work in May 2021, 11% were unemployed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Half the households in Salisbury had more than $71,700 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Salisbury spend 24.3 minutes on the way to work on average, and 2.6% need an hour or more.
Where Salisbury stands out on work
More people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 79% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 57% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $71,700 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Salisbury: B−
Better than 54% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #23 of 60 in New Brunswick.
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.
In Salisbury, 79% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Westmorland census division, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 57%: many residents are past working age. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 61% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 64% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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 Salisbury: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 62% of Canadian towns.
That puts Salisbury 2% below the median of New Brunswick’s towns, $73,200. Of the 10 other places of 2,500 or more in the Westmorland census division, 6 have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On a working day, Salisbury loses more workers than it gains
745 residents of Salisbury had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 680 people had theirs in Salisbury, wherever they lived.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Where people work
- Salisbury (New Brunswick part)125
- Moncton85
- Coverdale80
- Moncton45
- Riverview40
- Petitcodiac30
- Elgin15
- Dieppe15
- Brunswick10
- Moncton375
- Dieppe70
- Riverview45
- Sussex10
- Fredericton10
Inbound, the leader is Salisbury (New Brunswick part) (125).
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 Salisbury work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Without a car, 7.2% of Salisbury’s commuters get to work
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 12% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 5.7% of commuters, well above the 2.9% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. Nearly everyone drives: 91% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Commuting times in Salisbury
Only 24% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 44% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 21.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of New Brunswick’s towns averages 20.8 minutes.
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.
In the Westmorland census division, 29% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 4%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 13,960 people, 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 6.3 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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Salisbury alone, so this card uses the figure for the Westmorland census division.
How walkable Salisbury is: B+
Better than 68% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #12 of 60 in New Brunswick.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,500, Salisbury ranks 190th of 424 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 3,198 | 79% | 4.9% | $105K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 61 | Grand Manan New Brunswick | 2,648 | 78% | 12% | $77K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 99 | Wakefield New Brunswick | 2,749 | 81% | 7.3% | $71K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 188 | Jerome Ontario | 2,820 | 63% | 17% | $114K | B− |
| 189 | Ramsay Heights Alberta | 3,434 | 73% | 13% | $98K | B− |
| 190 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 2,585 | 79% | 11% | $72K | B− |
| 191 | Sturgeon Creek Manitoba | 3,202 | 72% | 7.5% | $82K | B− |
| 192 | Miller Alberta | 3,294 | 74% | 13% | $101K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 424 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Salisbury, and others among New Brunswick’s towns.
Around Salisbury: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury | 79% | 11% | $72K | 24.3 min | B− | B+ |
| Salisbury 9.3 km | 71% | 8.5% | $71K | 25.5 min | C− | D |
| Petitcodiac 13.8 km | 74% | 11% | $68K | 27.2 min | C− | B+ |
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 Salisbury, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Salisbury
How do people in Salisbury get to work?
91% of commuters drive, 5.7% walk and 1.5% cycle; 12% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Salisbury?
The average commute is 24.3 minutes; 24% of trips take under 15 minutes and 2.6% an hour or more.
Where do people in Salisbury work?
Only 30% work in Salisbury itself; the rest go first to Moncton (375) and Dieppe (70).
How many jobs are there in Salisbury?
The 2021 census found about 680 people with their usual workplace in Salisbury, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 73 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Salisbury?
The 2021 census found 11% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Moncton metro area, is 7.2% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Salisbury?
The census puts Salisbury at $71,700 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).