Photo: PatHirtle · CC BY-SA 4.0Bridgewater’s household incomes are lower than in 93% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 12% of Bridgewater’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Bridgewater is the usual workplace of 5,540 people, and 2,580 of its own residents commute to a job. At the 2021 census, 68% of Bridgewater’s 15-to-64s were in work, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
What sets Bridgewater apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
68% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 46%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $57,400 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
5,540 people work in Bridgewater and 2,580 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 16.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.5% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Bridgewater: C
Better than 25% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #50 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
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 Bridgewater
None of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lunenburg census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 53% of residents that age. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 46%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 48% in October 2026. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
What households earned in Bridgewater: $57,400 in 2020
Set beside Nova Scotia’s towns, where the median is $69,150, Bridgewater sits 17% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Lunenburg census division has a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
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 Bridgewater gains 98% in workers
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 4 to 1 in Bridgewater. 66% 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.
At 16.9 minutes, commutes from Bridgewater are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
In the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns, the average commute is 23 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 64% of commuters, against 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 4.5% take an hour or more, against 5.6%. Timed exactly, the average is 15 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.
3,848 people come into Bridgewater to work, most from Lunenburg and Liverpool
- Lunenburg445
- Lunenburg115
- Chester90
- Liverpool75
- Halifax70
- Mahone Bay55
- Smiths Falls10
Of everyone working in Bridgewater, 69% come in from elsewhere; 2,925 make the 3 km trip from Lunenburg. Outbound, Lunenburg takes the most: 445 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 9.4% of Bridgewater’s commuters get to work
On foot: 9.1% of commuters, well above the 3.3% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. The car takes 88% of commuters here, under the 92% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Lunenburg census division, 25% more people receive EI than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 8%. In March 2021 it reached 3,340, the most in the series and 2.2 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 6.1 are on EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Lunenburg census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Bridgewater on foot: a A− grade
Better than 85% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #16 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
525th of 657: where Bridgewater ranks among Canadian towns of 7,000 to 13,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Fall River Nova Scotia | 9,214 | 78% | 8.1% | $135K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 96 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 115 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 523 | Fletchers Meadow North Ontario | 11,870 | 66% | 14% | $127K | C |
| 524 | Vanier Quebec | 13,494 | 73% | 11% | $49K | C |
| 525 | Bridgewater Nova Scotia | 9,989 | 68% | 12% | $57K | C |
| 526 | Electoral Area F, Nanaimo British Columbia | 8,810 | 72% | 9% | $69K | C |
| 527 | Lac-des-Fées Quebec | 10,075 | 71% | 10% | $62K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 657 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Bridgewater, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Bridgewater
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater | 68% | 12% | $57K | 16.9 min | C | A− |
| Lunenburg 2.6 km | 70% | 11% | $69K | 24.9 min | C− | C− |
| Mahone Bay 13.2 km | 70% | 10% | $60K | 21.2 min | C− | A+ |
| Lunenburg 16.6 km | 71% | 14% | $64K | 18 min | C+ | 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 Bridgewater, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- 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. 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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 Bridgewater
How long is the commute from Bridgewater?
On average 16.9 minutes; 64% take under 15 minutes and 4.5% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Bridgewater work?
66% work in Bridgewater itself; of those who leave, the most go to Lunenburg (445), then Lunenburg (115).
How many jobs are there in Bridgewater?
About 5,540 people had their usual place of work in Bridgewater at the 2021 census, 2.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 395 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Bridgewater?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 12% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Southern economic region at 8.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Bridgewater?
The median household in Bridgewater had $57,400 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Bridgewater get to work?
88% of commuters go by car, 9.1% walk and 0.3% cycle. On census day 12% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).