Photo: ALAN SCHMIERER · CC0Torbay’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of Canadian towns
73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Torbay had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. 830 people have their usual place of work in Torbay, against 2,520 residents who travel to a job. Of everyone in Torbay working or looking for work in May 2021, 9.7% were unemployed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The short version on work in Torbay
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $108,400 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.4% 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.
Jobs and income in Torbay earn A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #6 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Before tax, the median household in Torbay had $108,400
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 1, 3 have a higher median. The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns is $63,700, and Torbay is 70% above it. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
21.3 minutes from Torbay to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns averages 19 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 33%, fewer than the 56% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. An hour or more: 3.4% of commuters, under the 4.6% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 19.4 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
A commuter town: Torbay sends out more workers than it takes in
For every person who comes in to work, about 5 residents travel out. The job is inside the municipality for 15% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
86% of Torbay’s residents in work leave it to work; St. John's takes the most
- St. John's1,880
- Mount Pearl170
- Paradise35
- Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights10
- Come By Chance10
- Holyrood10
- Conception Bay South10
- Portugal Cove-St. Philip's10
- Division No. 10, Subd. C (SNO)10
Of those coming in, St. John's supplies the most: 205.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Torbay
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 1, 10 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 62% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 68% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
2.6% of commuters in Torbay walk, cycle or take transit
Only 20% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.8%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 93% 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).
In Census Division No. 1, 4% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
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%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 31,470 people, 2.2 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: Census Division No. 1. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walking in Torbay earns C
Better than 32% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #25 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 5,800 to 11,200, Torbay ranks 99th of 683 for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Happy Valley-Goose Bay Newfoundland and Labrador | 8,197 | 72% | 9.7% | $108K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 78 | Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Newfoundland and Labrador | 9,167 | 76% | 7.9% | $114K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 97 | Secord Alberta | 8,205 | 78% | 8% | $126K | A− |
| 98 | The Orchards At Ellerslie Alberta | 6,267 | 82% | 7.9% | $119K | A− |
| 99 | Torbay Newfoundland and Labrador | 8,297 | 73% | 9.7% | $108K | A− |
| 100 | Electoral Area C, East Kootenay British Columbia | 7,006 | 76% | 6.7% | $100K | A− |
| 101 | Crystal Bay - Lakeview Park Ontario | 6,059 | 77% | 9.2% | $138K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 683 | Beasley Ontario | 6,338 | 49% | 17% | $47K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Torbay, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
Work next door to Torbay
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torbay | 73% | 9.7% | $108K | 21.3 min | A− | C |
| Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove 5 km | 78% | 9.5% | $130K | 18.6 min | A+ | C− |
| Flatrock 6.6 km | 75% | 9.4% | $117K | 28.1 min | B | D |
| Portugal Cove-St. Philip's 9.5 km | 76% | 7.9% | $114K | 22.9 min | A | C |
| St. John's 11.4 km | 68% | 12% | $75K | 17.1 min | B− | A |
| Pouch Cove 11.6 km | 66% | 9.1% | $84K | 31.6 min | D | C |
| Wabana 15.3 km | 38% | 12% | $37K | 33.2 min | D− | B+ |
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 Torbay, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Torbay
How do people in Torbay get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 0.8% take public transit and 1.8% walk; 20% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Torbay?
The average commute is 21.3 minutes; 33% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.4% an hour or more.
Where do people in Torbay work?
Only 15% work in Torbay itself; the rest go first to St. John's (1,880) and Mount Pearl (170).
How many jobs are there in Torbay?
The 2021 census found about 830 people with their usual workplace in Torbay, or 0.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 217 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Torbay?
The 2021 census found 9.7% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the St. John's metro area, is 6.5% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Torbay?
The median household in Torbay had $108,400 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).