Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in St. Stephen earn less than those in 94% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 9.6% of St. Stephen’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Getting to work from St. Stephen takes 15.2 minutes on average, an hour or more for 2.9%. 72% of people aged 15 to 64 in St. Stephen had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Work in St. Stephen, in a few figures
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $56,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
2,310 people work in St. Stephen and 1,475 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 15.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.9% take an hour or more. 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.
St. Stephen earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #39 of 60 in New Brunswick.
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.
Before tax, the median household in St. Stephen had $56,400
Against the middle of New Brunswick’s towns ($73,200), St. Stephen’s median is 23% below. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
A working day adds 52% to the people at work in St. Stephen
About 3 people arrive to work in St. Stephen for each resident who goes out. Of those who commute, 75% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from St. Stephen takes
A quarter-hour or less for 71% of commuters, against 44% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 12.6 minutes. In the middle of New Brunswick’s towns, the average commute is 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.
1,210 people come into St. Stephen to work, most from Saint Stephen and Saint James
- Saint Stephen280
- Saint James230
- Saint David175
- Dufferin125
- Saint Croix80
- Saint Andrews55
- Dumbarton45
- Pennfield25
- Saint George25
- Saint John20
- Saint David70
- Saint Stephen60
- Saint Andrews45
- St. George40
- Saint John35
- Blacks Harbour35
- Saint George20
- Saint Croix15
- Moncton15
- West Isles10
Of everyone working in St. Stephen, 52% come in from elsewhere; 280 make the 5 km trip from Saint Stephen. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Saint David (70).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in St. Stephen
A smaller share in work than in 64% of Canadian towns.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 51%: many residents are past working age. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Working or looking, 57% of everyone 15 and over was 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.
St. Stephen gets to work without a car for 10% of commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. 89% drive to work, fewer than the 95% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. Only 7.5% worked at home on census day, against 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).
17% fewer people are on EI in the Charlotte census division than in 2019
The count topped out in February 2021 at 2,730 people, 1.8 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 7.6 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 5%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Charlotte 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 St. Stephen: A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #7 of 60 in New Brunswick.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 747 Canadian towns of 3,400 to 6,600, St. Stephen comes 482nd on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Hanwell New Brunswick | 5,108 | 78% | 7.2% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 143 | Grand Bay-Westfield New Brunswick | 5,202 | 78% | 6.3% | $98K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 480 | Cachet Ontario | 6,361 | 67% | 11% | $145K | C+ |
| 481 | Casselman Alberta | 5,795 | 68% | 12% | $92K | C+ |
| 482 | St. Stephen New Brunswick | 4,876 | 72% | 9.6% | $56K | C+ |
| 483 | Meinzinger Park-Lakeside Ontario | 5,007 | 71% | 14% | $74K | C+ |
| 484 | Juan de Fuca (Part 1) British Columbia | 5,439 | 77% | 6.7% | $90K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 747 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of St. Stephen, and others among New Brunswick’s towns.
Neighbouring places to St. Stephen, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Stephen | 72% | 9.6% | $56K | 15.2 min | C+ | A− |
| Saint Stephen 4.8 km | 67% | 10% | $66K | 21.2 min | C− | D |
| Saint David 7.3 km | 67% | 10% | $67K | 21 min | C | D |
| Saint James 14.7 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 St. Stephen, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in St. Stephen
What is the unemployment rate in St. Stephen?
The census put unemployment at 9.6% 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 St. Stephen?
St. Stephen’s middle household had $56,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in St. Stephen get to work?
Driving takes 89% of commuters to work, 10% walk, and on census day 7.5% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from St. Stephen?
About 15.2 minutes on average, with 71% under a quarter-hour and 2.9% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in St. Stephen work?
75% work in St. Stephen itself; of those who leave, the most go to Saint David (70), then Saint Stephen (60).
How many jobs are there in St. Stephen?
Some 2,310 people worked in St. Stephen at the 2021 census: 1.6 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 161 businesses with employees in June 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).