Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0Few Canadian towns have household incomes as low as Digby’s
In May 2021, unemployment in Digby reached 18%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Digby is the usual workplace of 1,380 people, and 510 of its own residents commute to a job. Jobs were held by 63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Digby in 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
What the numbers say about work in Digby
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 63% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 41% 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
Household income at the median was $44,200 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
1,380 people work in Digby and 510 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 17.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.8% 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 Digby earn C−
Better than 17% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Who in Digby has a job
A smaller share in work than in 89% of Canadian towns.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 48% in October 2026. Working or looking, 50% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Counting retirees, 41% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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: $44,200 at the median
Digby’s median is 36% below the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150). These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
On a working day, 1,460 people work in Digby, 2.5 times its working residents
Digby takes in some 5 workers for every resident it sends out. 60% 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.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 17.7 minutes from Digby
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.1 minutes. The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns averages 23 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 69% of commuters, against 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 4.8%.
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.
1,075 people come into Digby to work, most from Digby (Nova Scotia part) and Annapolis County, Subdivision A
- Digby (Nova Scotia part)755
- Annapolis County, Subdivision A160
- Clare90
- Halifax15
- Bear River (Part) 610
- Annapolis Royal10
- Annapolis County, Subdivision B10
- Annapolis County, Subdivision C10
- Digby (Nova Scotia part)160
- Clare10
- Annapolis County, Subdivision A10
- Annapolis Royal10
Of everyone working in Digby, 78% come in from elsewhere; 755 make the 14 km trip from Digby (Nova Scotia part). Outbound, Digby (Nova Scotia part) takes the most: 160 people.
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 Digby work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 17% of commuters in Digby
Only 11% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By transit: 3.2% of commuters, well above the 0.7% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. 81% drive to work, fewer than the 92% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns.
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 the Digby census division, 10% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
The count topped out in August 2021 at 2,510 people, 1.8 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 12 are on EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Digby census division, Digby included.
Getting around Digby on foot earns A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Digby compares with the places nearby
Digby has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 14–49 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digby | 63% | 18% | $44K | 17.7 min | C− | A+ |
| Digby 14.1 km | 62% | 18% | $54K | 22.3 min | D | C+ |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision A 19.5 km | 65% | 17% | $53K | 24.6 min | D | B− |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision B 49 km | 66% | 13% | $56K | 24.9 min | D | B+ |
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.
- 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. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Digby
Where do people in Digby work?
Most stay: 60% work in Digby. The rest go first to Digby (Nova Scotia part) (160) and Clare (10).
How many jobs are there in Digby?
The 2021 census counted about 1,380 people working in Digby: 2.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 111 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Digby?
Two figures answer it: 18% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 8.9% for the Southern economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Digby?
The median household in Digby had $44,200 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Digby get to work?
By car: 81% of commuters, 3.2% take public transit and 14% walk; on census day 11% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Digby?
17.7 minutes is the average trip, with 69% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 4.8% taking an hour or more.
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).