Photo: Reynoborn64 · Public domainHouseholds in Digby have lower incomes than those in 97% of Canadian towns
Jobs located in Digby: 1,025, for 1,825 residents with a usual workplace. In Digby, 62% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. The 2021 census put unemployment in Digby at 18%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Digby
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 62% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 42% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 18% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 8.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $54,000 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.8% 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.
Digby grades D for jobs and income
Better than 9% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #75 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.
How many in Digby were working in 2021
A smaller share in work than in 91% of Canadian towns.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 42% of residents 15 and over were in work. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 48% of the wider area’s adults in work. Working or looking, 51% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
Household income in Digby: $54,000 at the median
Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Digby’s median is 22% below. 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).
At 22.3 minutes, commutes from Digby are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 5.8%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.7 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 44%, fewer than the 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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Digby
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 3 to 1. 33% 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.
67% of Digby’s residents in work leave it to work; Digby (Nova Scotia part) takes the most
- Digby (Nova Scotia part)755
- Clare230
- Annapolis County, Subdivision A105
- Yarmouth35
- Yarmouth25
- Annapolis Royal20
- Middleton10
- Kingston10
- Halifax10
In the other direction the biggest source is Digby (Nova Scotia part), with 160.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walking, cycling or transit: 4.3% of Digby’s commuters
Transit takes 1.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 8.2%, under the 21% 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%. In August 2021 it reached 2,510, the most in the series and 1.8 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Digby census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
On getting around on foot, Digby grades C+
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #49 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Digby next to Canadian towns of 5,300 to 10,200
| # | 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 |
| … | ||||||
| 92 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 116 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 649 | Billings Bridge - Heron Park Ontario | 5,370 | 66% | 13% | $59K | D |
| 650 | Crown Point West Ontario | 6,132 | 64% | 16% | $72K | D |
| 651 | Digby Nova Scotia | 7,528 | 62% | 18% | $54K | D |
| 652 | Battlefield Ontario | 6,531 | 69% | 14% | $62K | D |
| 653 | Edgeley Ontario | 7,016 | 69% | 13% | $74K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 694 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Digby, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Digby
No closer places have figures: these lie 14–37 km from Digby.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digby | 62% | 18% | $54K | 22.3 min | D | C+ |
| Digby 14.1 km | 63% | 18% | $44K | 17.7 min | C− | A+ |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision A 33 km | 65% | 17% | $53K | 24.6 min | D | B− |
| Clare 36.6 km | 67% | 13% | $62K | 20.6 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 Digby, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Digby
What is the average household income in Digby?
Before tax, half the households in Digby had more than $54,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Digby get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 1.2% take public transit, 2.7% walk and 0.4% cycle; on census day 8.2% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Digby?
22.3 minutes is the average trip, with 44% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.8% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Digby work?
33% work in Digby itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Digby (Nova Scotia part) (755), then Clare (230).
How many jobs are there in Digby?
The 2021 census counted about 1,025 people working in Digby: 0.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 262 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Digby?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Southern economic region at 8.9%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 18%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).