Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Carbonear has lower household incomes than 93% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 20% of Carbonear’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The census counted 2,270 people working in Carbonear and 1,055 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. 56% of people aged 15 to 64 in Carbonear had a job at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Carbonear and work: the main findings
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 39% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 56%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.6% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 20%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $57,600 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 2,270 jobs based in Carbonear and 1,055 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 21.1 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.
Jobs and income in Carbonear earn D
Better than 12% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #27 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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 Carbonear has a job
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 1, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 39%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 59% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 49% of people aged 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.
What households earned in Carbonear: $57,600 in 2020
Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 1 has a higher median. Against the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns ($63,700), Carbonear’s median is 10% below. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
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, 2,370 people work in Carbonear, 2.1 times its working residents
For every resident who leaves Carbonear for work, about 5 people come in.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 21.1 minutes from Carbonear
An hour or more: 15% of commuters, above the 4.6% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 20.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns averages 19 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.
1,497 people come into Carbonear to work, most from Harbour Grace and Bay Roberts
- Harbour Grace295
- Bay Roberts205
- Victoria185
- Spaniard's Bay110
- Salmon Cove85
- Upper Island Cove60
- Clarke's Beach60
- Division No. 1, Subdivision G50
- Division No. 1, Subd. I50
- St. John's45
- Bay Roberts60
- St. John's55
- Harbour Grace45
- Bay de Verde25
- Old Perlican15
- Mount Pearl15
- Spaniard's Bay10
- Conception Bay South10
- Paradise10
66% of the people who work in Carbonear live outside it, 295 of them in Harbour Grace, 6 km away. Outbound, Bay Roberts takes the most: 60 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 7% of Carbonear’s commuters get to work
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 5.6% against 3.5%. 89% drive to work, fewer than the 92% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 6.5% against 21%. Few ride transit: 1.4%, 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).
4% fewer people are on EI in Census Division No. 1 than in 2019
Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Carbonear alone, so this card uses the figure for Census Division No. 1.
That works out to around 7.3 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 11%. At its peak, in February 2021, 31,470 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).
The walkability of Carbonear: B
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #8 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Canadian towns of 3,500 to 6,800, and where Carbonear sits
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 476 | Pasadena Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,930 | 67% | 15% | $83K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 575 | Deer Lake Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,319 | 58% | 17% | $63K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 589 | Marystown Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,196 | 55% | 20% | $60K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 664 | Corman Ontario | 6,566 | 64% | 15% | $70K | D |
| 665 | Bruleville Ontario | 4,310 | 62% | 16% | $71K | D |
| 666 | Carbonear Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,041 | 56% | 20% | $58K | D |
| 667 | Madawaska Valley Ontario | 4,151 | 65% | 9.4% | $63K | D |
| 668 | Homeside Ontario | 6,011 | 63% | 16% | $73K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 739 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Carbonear, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
Work in the places around Carbonear
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbonear | 56% | 20% | $58K | 21.1 min | D | B |
| Victoria 3.6 km | 52% | 19% | $60K | 26.6 min | D− | B− |
| Harbour Grace 5.6 km | 58% | 20% | $58K | 23.4 min | D | C |
| Upper Island Cove 9.6 km | 53% | 24% | $67K | 31.3 min | D− | C+ |
| Spaniard's Bay 13.6 km | 53% | 20% | $64K | 28.4 min | D− | C |
| Bay Roberts 16.7 km | 63% | 14% | $72K | 25.3 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 Carbonear, 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. 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Carbonear
How do people in Carbonear get to work?
89% of commuters go by car, 1.4% take public transit and 5.6% walk. On census day 6.5% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Carbonear?
On average 21.1 minutes; 66% take under 15 minutes and 15% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Carbonear work?
73% work in Carbonear itself; of those who leave, the most go to Bay Roberts (60), then St. John's (55).
How many jobs are there in Carbonear?
About 2,270 people had their usual place of work in Carbonear at the 2021 census, 2.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 234 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Carbonear?
Two figures answer it: 20% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.6% for the Avalon Peninsula economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Carbonear?
At $57,600 before tax in 2020, the median household in Carbonear compares with $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).