Photo: Dr Wilson · CC BY-SA 3.0Wicklow has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.3 for each
The 2021 census found 81% of working-age people in Wicklow employed; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Unemployment in Wicklow stood at 5.4% on census day 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Median household income in Wicklow was $70,900 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Wicklow
More people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 81% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 59%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.1% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 5.4%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $70,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.2% 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 Wicklow earn B+
Better than 67% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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 and out of work in Wicklow
A larger share in work than in 78% of Canadian towns.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 56% in work in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 62% of residents that age. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 59%. 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.
How Wicklow’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 64% of Canadian towns.
Set beside New Brunswick’s towns, where the median is $73,200, Wicklow sits 3% below. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
22.1 minutes from Wicklow to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
An hour or more: 5.2% of commuters, above the 2.7% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.8 minutes. In the middle of New Brunswick’s towns, the average commute is 20.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 42%, fewer 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.
More workers leave Wicklow each day than arrive
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 10 to 1. 16% 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.
84% of Wicklow’s residents in work leave it to work; Florenceville-Bristol takes the most
- Florenceville-Bristol150
- Centreville85
- Hartland45
- Wakefield40
- Woodstock25
- Perth-Andover25
- Aberdeen15
- Bath15
- Tobique 2015
- Wilmot10
Florenceville-Bristol sends the largest group the other way, 20 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Leaving the car at home: 5.2% of commuters in Wicklow
The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters. Only 15% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. 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).
EI claims in the Carleton census division run 12% above their 2019 level
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 6.2 are on EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. At its peak, in March 2021, 2,150 people were on EI, 2.2 times the 2019 average.
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). Wicklow shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Carleton census division.
Getting around Wicklow on foot earns C
Better than 30% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Around Wicklow: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wicklow | 81% | 5.4% | $71K | 22.1 min | B+ | C |
| Florenceville-Bristol 6.2 km | 77% | 6.7% | $71K | 19.2 min | B+ | B |
| Kent 8.6 km | 70% | 13% | $65K | 23.6 min | C− | D− |
| Wilmot 14.3 km | 72% | 16% | $67K | 21.8 min | C | D |
| Peel 14.8 km | 64% | 8.3% | $67K | 21.9 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 Wicklow, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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. 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- 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 Wicklow
How long is the commute from Wicklow?
About 22.1 minutes on average, with 42% under a quarter-hour and 5.2% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Wicklow work?
16% work in Wicklow itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Florenceville-Bristol (150), then Centreville (85).
How many jobs are there in Wicklow?
In June 2026, 36 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Wicklow?
The census put unemployment at 5.4% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Edmundston-Woodstock economic region at 6.1%.
What is the average household income in Wicklow?
The median household in Wicklow had $70,900 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Wicklow get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 5.2% walk, and on census day 15% of those in work were at home.
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).