Photo: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office · Public domainWorking-age people in Placentia are less likely to have a job than in 91% of Canadian towns
Workers in Placentia spend 21.8 minutes on the way to work on average, and 12% need an hour or more. Median household income in Placentia was $59,300 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Of everyone in Placentia working or looking for work in May 2021, 16% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Placentia
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 62% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 41% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 16% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 6.6%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $59,300 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 870 jobs based in Placentia and 775 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 21.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 12% 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 & income in Placentia: graded D
Better than 13% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #25 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Placentia: 62%
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 1, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
49% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 41% of residents 15 and over were in work. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 59% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Household income in Placentia
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 90% of Canadian towns.
11 of the 13 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 1 have a higher median. The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns is $63,700, and Placentia is 7% below it. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Workers pour into Placentia: 11% more on a working day
775 residents of Placentia had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 870 people had theirs in Placentia, wherever they lived.
Each resident commuting out of Placentia is matched by about 2 coming in. The job is inside the municipality for 78% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Placentia
Timed exactly, the average is 21.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns averages 19 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 59% of commuters, against 56% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
269 people come into Placentia to work, most from Division No. 1, Subd. B and Fox Harbour
- Division No. 1, Subd. B90
- Fox Harbour55
- Division No. 1, Subdivision E20
- Bay Roberts15
- St. John's15
- Division No. 1, Subd. C10
- Clarke's Beach10
- Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights50
- St. John's45
- Whitbourne15
- Qikiqtaaluk, Unorganized (NO)10
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 Placentia work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 5.1% of Placentia’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 7%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.9%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 92% 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.
In Census Division No. 1, 4% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 1, Placentia included.
The highest month was February 2021: 31,470 people, 2.2 times the 2019 level. That is about 7.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 11%.
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).
Everyday places on foot in Placentia: B−
Better than 50% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #15 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Placentia next to Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,600: 646th of 742 on 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,601 | 78% | 9.5% | $130K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 470 | Pasadena Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,930 | 67% | 15% | $83K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 526 | Channel-Port aux Basques Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,379 | 61% | 17% | $63K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 644 | Saint-David-de-Falardeau Quebec | 3,128 | 68% | 9.4% | $78K | D |
| 645 | Black River-Matheson Ontario | 2,899 | 72% | 8.6% | $76K | D |
| 646 | Placentia Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,374 | 62% | 16% | $59K | D |
| 647 | Victoria County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 4,258 | 61% | 21% | $70K | D |
| 648 | Botwood Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,884 | 52% | 22% | $55K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 742 | 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 Placentia, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
Around Placentia: jobs, pay and the commute
No closer places have figures: these lie 38–57 km from Placentia.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placentia | 62% | 16% | $59K | 21.8 min | D | B− |
| Whitbourne 38.3 km | 61% | 18% | $72K | 21 min | C | B− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision Y 40.3 km | 68% | 19% | $72K | 33.8 min | D | C |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision E 51.7 km | 57% | 22% | $60K | 36.6 min | D− | C |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M 52.4 km | 54% | 15% | $75K | 31.2 min | D | D− |
| Arnold's Cove 56.8 km | 69% | 15% | $75K | 21.4 min | C+ | C− |
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 Placentia, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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.
- 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Placentia
What is the unemployment rate in Placentia?
At the 2021 census 16% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Avalon Peninsula economic region, gives 6.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Placentia?
Before tax, half the households in Placentia had more than $59,300 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Placentia get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 0.9% take public transit and 4.2% walk; 7% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Placentia?
The average commute is 21.8 minutes; 59% of trips take under 15 minutes and 12% an hour or more.
Where do people in Placentia work?
78% work in Placentia itself; of those who leave, the most go to Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights (50), then St. John's (45).
How many jobs are there in Placentia?
The 2021 census found about 870 people with their usual workplace in Placentia, or 1.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 105 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).