Photo: Sophilosophie · CC BY-SA 4.0Clare’s household incomes are lower than in 85% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 13% of people in Clare who wanted a job had none, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Most commutes from Clare take well under an hour: the average is 20.6 minutes, and 2.9% take 60 minutes or longer. Of Clare’s residents aged 15 to 64, 67% were employed when the 2021 census was taken; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Where Clare stands out on work
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 67% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 45% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $61,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 20.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.9% 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 Clare earn C−
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #62 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.
67% of working-age people in Clare have jobs
A smaller share in work than in 82% of Canadian towns.
Counting those looking for work too, 51% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 45%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 48% in October 2026. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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 Clare: $61,600 in 2020
Clare’s median is 11% below the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150). 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).
The length of the trip to work in Clare
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.5 minutes. In the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns, the average commute is 23 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 48% of commuters, against 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’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.
A commuter town: Clare sends out more workers than it takes in
71% 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.
29% of Clare’s residents in work leave it to work; Yarmouth takes the most
Digby sends the largest group the other way, 230 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Leaving the car at home: 3.6% of commuters in Clare
The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters. Only 9.3% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, 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 Digby census division, 10% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
Roughly 12 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%. August 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,510 people on EI, 1.8 times 2019’s average.
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 Digby 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).
Everyday places on foot in Clare: C
Better than 29% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #59 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Clare is 587th of 693 Canadian towns of 5,600 to 10,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 49 | Fall River Nova Scotia | 9,214 | 78% | 8.1% | $135K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 94 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 117 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 585 | Grosvenor Park Saskatchewan | 6,240 | 61% | 12% | $62K | C− |
| 586 | Campbellton New Brunswick | 7,485 | 62% | 13% | $49K | C− |
| 587 | Clare Nova Scotia | 8,020 | 67% | 13% | $62K | C− |
| 588 | Beaver County Alberta | 6,245 | 70% | 11% | $94K | C− |
| 589 | Weston Manitoba | 6,661 | 64% | 13% | $69K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 693 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Clare, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Next to Clare: how nearby places compare
No closer places have figures: these lie 37–45 km from Clare.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clare | 67% | 13% | $62K | 20.6 min | C− | C |
| Digby 36.6 km | 62% | 18% | $54K | 22.3 min | D | C+ |
| Yarmouth 37.3 km | 73% | 13% | $69K | 19.4 min | C+ | C− |
| Yarmouth 45 km | 63% | 16% | $49K | 15 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 Clare, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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 Clare
How do people in Clare get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 0.7% take public transit and 2.9% walk; on census day 9.3% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Clare?
20.6 minutes is the average trip, with 48% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.9% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Clare work?
71% work in Clare itself; of those who leave, the most go to Yarmouth (260), then Digby (125).
How many jobs are there in Clare?
The 2021 census counted about 1,930 people working in Clare: 0.9 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 327 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Clare?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 13% 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 Clare?
Clare’s middle household had $61,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).