Photo: André Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 2.0Argyle has 0.5 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
Most commutes from Argyle take well under an hour: the average is 20.2 minutes, and 2.8% take 60 minutes or longer. Argyle had an unemployment rate of 12% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. In 2020, a household at the middle of Argyle had $71,400 before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
The short version on work in Argyle
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $71,400 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 20.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.8% 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.
Argyle grades B− for jobs and income
Better than 46% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #21 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
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 Argyle’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 63% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Nova Scotia’s towns, where the median is $69,150, Argyle sits 3% above. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
The length of the trip to work in Argyle
The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns averages 23 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 42%, fewer than the 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 17.3 minutes.
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.
More workers leave Argyle each day than arrive
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 5 to 1. 39% 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.
62% of Argyle’s residents in work leave it to work; Yarmouth takes the most
Coming the other way, Yarmouth sends the most (125).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Argyle have a job: 72% of 15-to-64s
A smaller share in work than in 64% of Canadian towns.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 48% of the wider area’s adults in work. Working or looking, 58% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 51% were working. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 1.1% of Argyle’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 98% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Only 11% worked at home on census day, against 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 the Yarmouth census division, 4% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 2%. At its peak, in August 2021, 3,240 people were on EI, 2.1 times the 2019 average. Roughly 12.4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Argyle alone, so this card uses the figure for the Yarmouth census division.
Everyday places on foot in Argyle: D
Better than 5% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #2,569 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Argyle is 382nd of 673 Canadian towns of 5,800 to 11,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Fall River Nova Scotia | 9,214 | 78% | 8.1% | $135K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 108 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 380 | Aspen Woods Alberta | 9,606 | 68% | 11% | $199K | B− |
| 381 | Deer Lake British Columbia | 8,417 | 73% | 8.9% | $102K | B− |
| 382 | Argyle Nova Scotia | 8,216 | 72% | 12% | $71K | B− |
| 383 | Playter Estates-Danforth Ontario | 7,712 | 73% | 14% | $91K | B− |
| 384 | La Pêche Quebec | 9,379 | 80% | 6.2% | $88K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 673 | Beasley Ontario | 6,338 | 49% | 17% | $47K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Argyle, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Work next door to Argyle
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argyle | 72% | 12% | $71K | 20.2 min | B− | D |
| Yarmouth 17.3 km | 63% | 16% | $49K | 15 min | C− | A |
| Yarmouth 18.4 km | 73% | 13% | $69K | 19.4 min | C+ | 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 Argyle, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Argyle
What is the average household income in Argyle?
Before tax, half the households in Argyle had more than $71,400 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Argyle get to work?
Driving takes 98% of commuters to work, 1.1% walk, and on census day 11% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Argyle?
About 20.2 minutes on average, with 42% under a quarter-hour and 2.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Argyle work?
39% work in Argyle itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Yarmouth (830), then Yarmouth (380).
How many jobs are there in Argyle?
In June 2026, 504 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Argyle?
The 2021 census found 12% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Southern economic region, is 8.9% (October 2026).
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).