Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Enfield earn more than those in 66% of Canadian towns
Commutes from Enfield average 31.2 minutes, and 6.8% take an hour or more. At the 2021 census, 74% of Enfield’s 15-to-64s were in work; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. The 2021 census put unemployment in Enfield at 11%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Enfield and work: the main findings
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 74% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 58%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 31.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 6.8% 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.
Enfield grades C for jobs and income
Better than 30% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #42 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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 long the commute from Enfield takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 28 minutes. In the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns, the average commute is 23 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 23%, 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 Enfield
It sends out some 2 workers for every one it takes in. Of those who commute, 31% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
69% of Enfield’s residents in work leave it to work; Halifax takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Halifax (1,095).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Enfield
A smaller share in work than in 56% of Canadian towns.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 65% of residents that age. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 58%. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 65% in work 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.
$85,000 a year: the median household in Enfield
That puts Enfield 23% above the median 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).
Leaving the car at home: 2.8% of commuters in Enfield
Home was the workplace for 18%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.8% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Employment Insurance in the Hants census division since 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. The highest month was March 2021: 3,500 people, 2.3 times the 2019 level. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 5.5 receive 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 Hants 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).
Enfield on foot: a C grade
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #52 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
195th of 317: where Enfield ranks among Canadian towns of 18,900 to 36,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 3 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Cole Harbour Nova Scotia | 21,627 | 77% | 9.9% | $103K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Bedford Nova Scotia | 28,848 | 74% | 11% | $98K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 75 | Woodlawn Nova Scotia | 20,925 | 70% | 11% | $95K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 193 | North End Nova Scotia | 19,733 | 70% | 14% | $67K | C |
| 194 | South End Nova Scotia | 22,012 | 66% | 14% | $77K | C |
| 195 | East Hants Nova Scotia | 26,960 | 74% | 11% | $85K | C |
| 196 | South Eglinton-Davisville Ontario | 23,380 | 77% | 11% | $80K | C |
| 197 | Etobicoke City Centre Ontario | 23,856 | 76% | 11% | $83K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 317 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Enfield, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Enfield
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enfield | 74% | 11% | $85K | 31.2 min | C | C |
| Indian Brook 14 12.2 km | 54% | 14% | $62K | 28.1 min | D− | D |
| Dutch Settlement 15.7 km | 73% | 9% | $104K | 26.9 min | B | 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 Enfield, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Enfield as part of East Hants, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Enfield
How do people in Enfield get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters, 0.8% take public transit, 1.8% walk and 0.2% cycle; on census day 18% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Enfield?
31.2 minutes is the average trip, with 23% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 6.8% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Enfield work?
Only 31% work in Enfield itself; the rest go first to Halifax (3,840) and Truro (260).
How many jobs are there in Enfield?
The 2021 census counted about 4,645 people working in Enfield: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 682 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Enfield?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 11% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Halifax metro area at 5.4% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Enfield?
Enfield’s middle household had $85,000 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).