Photo: JohnHinks · CC BY-SA 3.0Few Canadian towns have household incomes as low as Stephenville’s
54% of people aged 15 to 64 in Stephenville had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. The average trip to work from Stephenville is 15.4 minutes; 5.1% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. 17% of the labour force in Stephenville was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Stephenville: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 54% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 39%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
17% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 8.4% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $50,300 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 2,465 jobs based in Stephenville and 1,570 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 15.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.1% 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.
Stephenville grades C− for jobs and income
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.
Work and the working-age population of Stephenville
A smaller share in work than in 97% of Canadian towns.
Counting those looking for work too, 47% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 39% of residents 15 and over were in work. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 51% of the wider area’s adults in work. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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 Stephenville: $50,300 at the median
Set beside Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, where the median is $63,700, Stephenville sits 21% below. 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).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
Every working day, Stephenville’s workforce grows by 51%
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 4 to 1 in Stephenville. 82% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Stephenville takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 13.1 minutes. In the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, the average commute is 19 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 75% 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.
1,171 people come into Stephenville to work, most from Kippens and Division No. 4, Subd. D
- Kippens440
- Division No. 4, Subd. D150
- Stephenville Crossing100
- St. George's90
- Division No. 4, Subdivision E85
- Port au Port East60
- Port au Port West-Aguathuna-Felix Cove45
- Division No. 4, Subd. C35
- Cape St. George25
- Division No. 4, Subdivision B20
- Corner Brook60
- Stephenville Crossing45
- St. George's25
- Lourdes20
- Division No. 4, Subdivision E15
- St. John's10
- Division No. 4, Subdivision B10
- Kippens10
- Cape St. George10
- Fort McMurray10
48% of the people who work in Stephenville live outside it, 440 of them in Kippens, 3 km away. Corner Brook is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 60 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
8.6% of commuters from Stephenville go without a car
Transit takes 0.5% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 8.1% against 3.5%. Fewer drive than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 90% against 92%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 8% against 21%.
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
Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across Census Division No. 4, with Stephenville one part of it.
At its peak, in February 2021, 3,230 people were on EI, 1.5 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 16 are on EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number 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).
Walkability in Stephenville: graded A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #3 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Stephenville is 609th among 696 Canadian towns of 4,800 to 9,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 43 | Happy Valley-Goose Bay Newfoundland and Labrador | 8,197 | 72% | 9.7% | $108K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 75 | Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Newfoundland and Labrador | 9,167 | 76% | 7.9% | $114K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 607 | Lochdale British Columbia | 7,463 | 67% | 10% | $86K | C− |
| 608 | Bay Roberts Newfoundland and Labrador | 6,407 | 63% | 14% | $72K | C− |
| 609 | Stephenville Newfoundland and Labrador | 6,840 | 54% | 17% | $50K | C− |
| 610 | Perth Ontario | 6,972 | 69% | 13% | $64K | C− |
| 611 | Electoral Area D, Columbia-Shuswap British Columbia | 4,829 | 74% | 7.2% | $70K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 696 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Stephenville, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
How Stephenville compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephenville | 54% | 17% | $50K | 15.4 min | C− | A− |
| Kippens 2.9 km | 64% | 17% | $82K | 15.2 min | B | D |
| Stephenville Crossing 11.9 km | 42% | 28% | $48K | 17.7 min | D | A |
| St. George's 15.3 km | 46% | 25% | $55K | 21.6 min | D | 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 Stephenville, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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. 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 Stephenville
What is the unemployment rate in Stephenville?
The census put unemployment at 17% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the West Coast-Northern Peninsula-Labrador economic region at 8.4%.
What is the average household income in Stephenville?
The census puts Stephenville at $50,300 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Stephenville get to work?
Driving takes 90% of commuters to work, 0.5% take public transit and 8.1% walk, and on census day 8% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Stephenville?
About 15.4 minutes on average, with 75% under a quarter-hour and 5.1% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Stephenville work?
Most stay: 82% work in Stephenville. The rest go first to Corner Brook (60) and Stephenville Crossing (45).
How many jobs are there in Stephenville?
Some 2,465 people worked in Stephenville at the 2021 census: 1.6 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 345 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).