Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainMost of Springfield works elsewhere: the town has 0.3 jobs for each resident in work
The median household in Springfield had $71,100 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Commutes from Springfield average 36.3 minutes, and 15% take an hour or more. Springfield counted 76% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Springfield: the figures worth knowing
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $71,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 36.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 15% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Springfield: C−
Better than 16% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, trip times.
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.
Household income in Springfield
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 64% of Canadian towns.
That puts Springfield 3% below the median of New Brunswick’s towns, $73,200. 8 of the 9 other places of 2,500+ in the Kings census division have a higher median. 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).
Time on the road to work from Springfield
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 32.8 minutes. In the middle of New Brunswick’s towns, the average commute is 20.8 minutes. Only 17% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
More workers leave Springfield each day than arrive
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 6 to 1. 14% 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.
86% of Springfield’s residents in work leave it to work; Saint John takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Studholm, with 25.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Springfield
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Kings census division, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 56% were working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 59% in October 2026. 62% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 0% of Springfield’s commuters
The car is the way to work for 98% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 19% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
3% more people are on EI in the Kings census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 4,910 people, 2.4 times the 2019 average. That is about 5 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 beneficiaries: the Kings census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
The Walkability grade for Springfield: D−
Better than 2% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Springfield, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield | 76% | 11% | $71K | 36.3 min | C− | D− |
| Norton 10.4 km | 76% | 9.5% | $71K | 29.4 min | C− | C− |
| Norton 16.5 km | 71% | 9.5% | $78K | 30.2 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 Springfield, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- 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 census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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 Springfield
What is the unemployment rate in Springfield?
The census put unemployment at 11% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Saint John-St. Stephen economic region at 6%.
What is the average household income in Springfield?
At $71,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Springfield compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Springfield get to work?
Driving takes 98% of commuters to work, and on census day 19% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Springfield?
About 36.3 minutes on average, with 17% under a quarter-hour and 15% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Springfield work?
14% work in Springfield itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Saint John (120), then Sussex (105).
How many jobs are there in Springfield?
In June 2026, 55 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).