Photo: Miguel Tremblay · CC0Whitbourne has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 93% of Canadian towns
The census counted 555 people working in Whitbourne and 240 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Median household income in Whitbourne was $72,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Of everyone in Whitbourne working or looking for work in May 2021, 18% were unemployed, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Whitbourne
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 61% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 44%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.6% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 18%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $72,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 555 jobs based in Whitbourne and 240 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 21 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.8% 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.
Jobs & income in Whitbourne: graded C
Better than 27% 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 Whitbourne have a job: 61% of 15-to-64s
Of the 14 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 1, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 54% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 44% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 59% in work in October 2026. 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.
Earnings at home in Whitbourne: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 61% of Canadian towns.
9 of the 14 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 1 have a higher median. That puts Whitbourne 13% above the median of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, $63,700. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
On a working day, 595 people work in Whitbourne, 2.1 times its working residents
For every resident who leaves Whitbourne for work, about 4 people come in. 61% 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.
21 minutes from Whitbourne to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
An hour or more: 7.8% of commuters, above the 4.6% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 17.6 minutes. The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns averages 19 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 64%, more 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
409 people come into Whitbourne to work, most from Division No. 1, Subdivision Y and Division No. 1, Subdivision E
- Division No. 1, Subdivision Y135
- Division No. 1, Subdivision E100
- Division No. 1, Subd. X30
- Norman's Cove-Long Cove30
- Bay Roberts25
- Placentia15
- Whiteway15
- St. John's15
- Chapel Arm10
- Conception Bay South10
- St. John's40
- Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights20
- Labrador City10
74% of the people who work in Whitbourne live outside it, 135 of them in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y, 9 km away. Going the other way, St. John's is the biggest single destination (40).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Whitbourne work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 4.7% of Whitbourne’s commuters
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 11% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 86% against 92%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
In Census Division No. 1, 4% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 11%. The highest month was February 2021: 31,470 people, 2.2 times the 2019 level. That is about 7.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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. 1. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Whitbourne on foot: a B− grade
Better than 47% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Whitbourne compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitbourne | 61% | 18% | $72K | 21 min | C | B− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision Y 9.2 km | 68% | 19% | $72K | 33.8 min | D | C |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M 14.4 km | 54% | 15% | $75K | 31.2 min | D | D− |
| Clarke's Beach 19 km | 66% | 14% | $60K | 23.8 min | D | 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 Whitbourne, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured 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. 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Whitbourne
What is the unemployment rate in Whitbourne?
Two figures answer it: 18% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.6% for the Avalon Peninsula economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Whitbourne?
Before tax, half the households in Whitbourne had more than $72,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Whitbourne get to work?
Driving takes 86% of commuters to work, 4.7% walk, and on census day 11% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Whitbourne?
About 21 minutes on average, with 64% under a quarter-hour and 7.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Whitbourne work?
Most stay: 61% work in Whitbourne. The rest go first to St. John's (40) and Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights (20).
How many jobs are there in Whitbourne?
Some 555 people worked in Whitbourne at the 2021 census: 2.3 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 66 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).