Photo: Robert Alfers · Public domainHousehold incomes in Bedford top those of 84% of Canadian towns
On census day, 35% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Residents of Bedford take 22.3 minutes to reach work on average; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. At the 2021 census, 74% of Bedford’s 15-to-64s were in work, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The work figures that set Bedford apart
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 22.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 35% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting 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 Bedford earn A−
Better than 77% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #8 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
6.6% of commuters from Bedford go without a car
More people take transit to work here than in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 3.9% against 0.7%. 90% 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).
Who in Bedford has a job
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 22 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 65%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 58% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 65% in work in October 2026. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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 Bedford: $98,000 in 2020
Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Bedford’s median is 42% above. Of the 35 other places of 2,500 or more in the Halifax census division, 13 have a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
EI claims in the Halifax census division run 18% above their 2019 level
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.7 receive EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. The count topped out in May 2021 at 26,240 people, 2.9 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 Halifax 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).
Walking in Bedford earns A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #17 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Bedford is 45th among 289 Canadian towns of 20,200 to 38,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Cole Harbour Nova Scotia | 21,627 | 77% | 9.9% | $103K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 43 | Saint-Lazare Quebec | 22,895 | 81% | 6.1% | $123K | A− |
| 44 | Baie-Comeau Quebec | 20,660 | 75% | 5.5% | $76K | A− |
| 45 | Bedford Nova Scotia | 28,848 | 74% | 11% | $98K | A− |
| 46 | Waterdown Ontario | 23,858 | 79% | 8.8% | $136K | A− |
| 47 | Kitsilano British Columbia | 27,320 | 83% | 7.4% | $84K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 72 | Woodlawn Nova Scotia | 20,925 | 70% | 11% | $95K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 98 | Westmount Nova Scotia | 23,207 | 73% | 13% | $77K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 289 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Bedford, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
The places around Bedford, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 74% | 11% | $98K | 22.3 min | A− | A− |
| Clayton Park West 5 km | 73% | 12% | $74K | 23.5 min | C+ | A+ |
| Lower Sackville 5.7 km | 73% | 10% | $84K | 22.4 min | B | A− |
| Fairview 7.7 km | 69% | 13% | $63K | 21 min | C− | A+ |
| Mount Royale 7.9 km | 72% | 11% | $73K | 21.3 min | B− | A− |
| Timberlea 8.1 km | 75% | 8.4% | $110K | 23.6 min | A− | B |
| Middle Sackville 8.2 km | 75% | 7.4% | $104K | 25.6 min | B+ | 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 Bedford, 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. 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Bedford’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Halifax’s page.
Questions about work in Bedford
How many jobs are there in Bedford?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Halifax as one municipality.
What is the unemployment rate in Bedford?
At the 2021 census 11% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Halifax metro area, gives 5.4% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Bedford?
The median household in Bedford had $98,000 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Bedford get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 3.9% take public transit and 2.7% walk; 35% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).