Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clifbudden/ Clif Budden · CC BY 2.0St. Alban's has lower household incomes than 96% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census found 57% of working-age people in St. Alban's employed, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 15% of workers in St. Alban's; the average is 20.8 minutes. When the 2021 census was taken, 14% of people in St. Alban's who wanted a job had none, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in St. Alban's
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 57% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 38%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Unemployment stood at 14% on census day in 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $55,000 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 350 jobs based in St. Alban's and 270 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 20.8 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 St. Alban's earn D
Better than 11% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Who in St. Alban's has a job
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 44% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 38%. 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.
The median household in St. Alban's had $55,000 in 2020
Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Every working day, St. Alban's’ workforce grows by 28%
Each resident commuting out of St. Alban's is matched by about 2 coming in. The job is inside the municipality for 75% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in St. Alban's
In the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, the average commute is 19 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 67% of commuters, against 56% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.3 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.
149 people come into St. Alban's to work, most from Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir and Division No. 3, Subd. D
- Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir70
- Division No. 3, Subd. D20
- Morrisville20
- Harbour Breton10
- Samiajij Miawpukek10
- Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir50
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walking, cycling or transit: 7.9% of St. Alban's’ commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 90% against 92%. Home was the workplace for 5%, under the 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).
20% fewer people are on EI in Census Division No. 3 than in 2019
Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for St. Alban's alone, so this card uses the figure for Census Division No. 3.
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 11%. At its peak, in March 2021, 3,600 people were on EI, 1.5 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).
Getting around St. Alban's on foot earns A−
Better than 82% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Around St. Alban's: jobs, pay and the commute
St. Alban's has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 45–104 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Alban's | 57% | 14% | $55K | 20.8 min | D | A− |
| Harbour Breton 45.4 km | 68% | 15% | $72K | 14.4 min | B− | A− |
| Grand Bank 87.6 km | 60% | 18% | $57K | 15.7 min | C− | A |
| Fortune 90.3 km | 56% | 22% | $57K | 17.7 min | C− | A− |
| Marystown 94.3 km | 55% | 20% | $60K | 14.9 min | C− | C+ |
| Burin 104.1 km | 64% | 18% | $66K | 22.7 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 St. Alban's, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. 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 St. Alban's
How long is the commute from St. Alban's?
About 20.8 minutes on average, with 67% under a quarter-hour and 15% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in St. Alban's work?
75% work in St. Alban's itself; of those who leave, the most go to Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir (50).
How many jobs are there in St. Alban's?
Some 350 people worked in St. Alban's at the 2021 census: 1.3 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 41 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in St. Alban's?
14% of the labour force was unemployed on census day in May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in St. Alban's?
Before tax, half the households in St. Alban's had more than $55,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in St. Alban's get to work?
Driving takes 90% of commuters to work, 7.9% walk, and on census day 5% 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, 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).