Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0St. John's has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 77% of Canadian towns
In 2020, a household at the middle of St. John's had $75,100 before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from St. John's take well under an hour: the average is 17.1 minutes, and 2.4% take 60 minutes or longer. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 12% of St. John's’ labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What the numbers say about work in St. John's
A local job centre
With 51,555 jobs based in St. John's and 34,865 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 17.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.4% 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.
St. John's earns B− for jobs and income
Better than 51% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #11 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.
Each working day, St. John's’ workforce swells by 37%
About 4 people arrive to work in St. John's for each resident who goes out. The job is inside the municipality for 85% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from St. John's
Timed exactly, the average is 15.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns averages 19 minutes. Only 53% get to work within a quarter-hour, 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.
22,024 people come into St. John's to work, most from Paradise and Mount Pearl
- Paradise4,735
- Mount Pearl4,470
- Conception Bay South3,870
- Portugal Cove-St. Philip's2,025
- Torbay1,880
- Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove650
- Pouch Cove440
- Flatrock420
- Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove305
- Witless Bay235
- Mount Pearl2,860
- Paradise780
- Conception Bay South350
- Torbay205
- Portugal Cove-St. Philip's95
- Division No. 10, Subd. E (SNO)70
- Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights65
- Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove60
- Happy Valley-Goose Bay50
- Carbonear45
43% of the people who work in St. John's live outside it, 4,735 of them in Paradise, 10 km away. The main destination the other way is Mount Pearl, with 2,860.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
68% of working-age people in St. John's have jobs
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 1, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. 62% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 55% were working. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Earnings at home in St. John's: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 54% of Canadian towns.
7 of the 13 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 1 have a higher median. Set beside Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, where the median is $63,700, St. John's sits 18% above. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 13% of St. John's’ commuters
20% worked at home on census day, about the same as in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns has 0.9% on transit; here it is 5.4%. Fewer drive than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 84% against 92%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
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, St. John's included.
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 31,470 people on EI, 2.2 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 7.3 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 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 St. John's: A
Better than 90% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #1 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
St. John's places 23rd of 43 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 90,100 to 173,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 68% | 11% | $78K | B− |
| 22 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 77% | 6.7% | $105K | B− |
| 23 | St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador | 128,693 | 68% | 12% | $75K | B− |
| 24 | Chilliwack British Columbia | 105,520 | 76% | 6.6% | $85K | B− |
| 25 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 68% | 13% | $79K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 43 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 59% | 20% | $63K | C− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of St. John's, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
Next to St. John's: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's | 68% | 12% | $75K | 17.1 min | B− | A |
| Mount Pearl 6.6 km | 72% | 10% | $81K | 18 min | B+ | B |
| Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove 9.4 km | 78% | 12% | $87K | 22.3 min | A− | C |
| Portugal Cove-St. Philip's 9.7 km | 76% | 7.9% | $114K | 22.9 min | A | C |
| Paradise 9.8 km | 77% | 8.5% | $111K | 20.9 min | A | B− |
| Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove 10 km | 78% | 9.5% | $130K | 18.6 min | A+ | C− |
| Torbay 11.4 km | 73% | 9.7% | $108K | 21.3 min | A− | 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. John's, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed 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.
- 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 St. John's
What is the unemployment rate in St. John's?
Two figures answer it: 12% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.5% for the St. John's metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in St. John's?
The median household in St. John's had $75,100 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in St. John's get to work?
84% of commuters drive, 5.4% take public transit, 7% walk and 0.2% cycle; 20% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from St. John's?
The average commute is 17.1 minutes; 53% of trips take under 15 minutes and 2.4% an hour or more.
Where do people in St. John's work?
85% work in St. John's itself; of those who leave, the most go to Mount Pearl (2,860), then Paradise (780).
How many jobs are there in St. John's?
The 2021 census found about 51,555 people with their usual workplace in St. John's, or 1.5 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 4,732 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).