Photo: Erikallen920 · CC BY-SA 4.0St. George's has lower household incomes than 96% of Canadian towns
Commutes from St. George's average 21.6 minutes, and 8.6% take an hour or more. 46% of people aged 15 to 64 in St. George's had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 25% of St. George's’ labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What St. George's’ work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 46% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 30%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 8.4% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 25%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $55,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 8.6% 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. George's grades D for jobs and income
Better than 9% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
How many in St. George's were working in 2021
A smaller share in work than in 99% of Canadian towns.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 40%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 30% were working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 51% of the wider area’s adults in work. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
$55,000 a year: the median household in St. George's
Against the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns ($63,700), St. George's’ median is 14% 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).
How long the commute from St. George's takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.1 minutes. The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns averages 19 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 45%, fewer than the 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.
Leaving the car at home: 3.4% of commuters in St. George's
Nearly everyone drives: 93% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 7.9%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% 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).
4% fewer people are on EI in Census Division No. 4 than in 2019
The highest month was February 2021: 3,230 people, 1.5 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 16 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 11%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of Census Division No. 4. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walkability in St. George's: graded C
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How St. George's compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. George's | 46% | 25% | $55K | 21.6 min | D | C |
| Stephenville Crossing 10 km | 42% | 28% | $48K | 17.7 min | D | A |
| Stephenville 15.3 km | 54% | 17% | $50K | 15.4 min | C− | A− |
| Kippens 16.7 km | 64% | 17% | $82K | 15.2 min | B | 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. George's, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in St. George's
How long is the commute from St. George's?
About 21.6 minutes on average, with 45% under a quarter-hour and 8.6% at an hour or longer.
What is the unemployment rate in St. George's?
At the 2021 census 25% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the West Coast-Northern Peninsula-Labrador economic region, gives 8.4% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in St. George's?
The census puts St. George's at $55,000 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in St. George's get to work?
Driving takes 93% of commuters to work, 3.4% walk, and on census day 7.9% 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).