Photo: Dan Fleet at English Wikipedia · Public domainWabush ranks among the highest-earning Canadian towns by household income
980 people have their usual place of work in Wabush, against 1,005 residents who travel to a job. Jobs were held by 85% of people aged 15 to 64 in Wabush in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. The 2021 census put unemployment in Wabush at 4.5%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Wabush’s work numbers say
More people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 85% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 73% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 4.5% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 8.4% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $152,800 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 11.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 0% 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 Wabush earn A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on three measures together.
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.
In and out of work in Wabush
A larger share in work than in 92% of Canadian towns.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 51% in work in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 77% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Wabush households: $152,800 a year at the median
That puts Wabush 140% above the median of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, $63,700. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
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: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
11.9 minutes from Wabush to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns averages 19 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 72%, more than the 56% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 0% take an hour or more, against 4.6%. Timed exactly, the average is 10.6 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.
In and out of Wabush: the working day evens out
The job is inside the municipality for 36% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
64% of Wabush’s residents in work leave it to work; Labrador City takes the most
- Labrador City570
- St. John's20
- Division No. 10, Subd. D20
- Corner Brook10
Labrador City sends the largest group the other way, 570 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
0% of commuters from Wabush go without a car
Nearly everyone drives: 98% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 4.3%, 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).
In Census Division No. 10, 15% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across Census Division No. 10, with Wabush one part of it.
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,900 people on EI, 1.5 times 2019’s average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 7.6 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 5%.
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).
The walkability of Wabush: C
Better than 28% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How the places next to Wabush compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabush | 85% | 4.5% | $153K | 11.9 min | A+ | C |
| Labrador City 5.7 km | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | 12.4 min | A+ | B− |
| Fermont 19.1 km | 85% | 2.4% | $174K | 19.1 min | A+ | A |
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 Wabush, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Wabush
What is the unemployment rate in Wabush?
At the 2021 census 4.5% 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 Wabush?
The census puts Wabush at $152,800 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Wabush get to work?
98% of commuters drive; 4.3% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Wabush?
The average commute is 11.9 minutes; 72% of trips take under 15 minutes and 0% an hour or more.
Where do people in Wabush work?
Only 36% work in Wabush itself; the rest go first to Labrador City (630) and Happy Valley-Goose Bay (15).
How many jobs are there in Wabush?
The 2021 census found about 980 people with their usual workplace in Wabush, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 82 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).