Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Fall River are among the highest of any Canadian town
Commutes from Fall River average 23.9 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. At the 2021 census, 78% of Fall River’s 15-to-64s were in work, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Fall River had an unemployment rate of 8.1% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Fall River at work: what stands out
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 78% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 64% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $134,600 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Fall River: A
Better than 93% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #1 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.
What households earned in Fall River: $134,600 in 2020
The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns is $69,150, and Fall River is 95% above it. One of the 35 other places of 2,500+ in the Halifax census division has a higher median. 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: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
How many in Fall River were working in 2021
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 32 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 70%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 64%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 65% in October 2026. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Without a car, 2.7% of Fall River’s commuters get to work
Home was the workplace for 29%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Few ride transit: 1%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. 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).
In the Halifax census division, 18% more people receive EI than in 2019
The count topped out in May 2021 at 26,240 people, 2.9 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.7 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose 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). Fall River doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Halifax census division.
Fall River on foot: a C grade
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #56 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 668 Canadian towns of 6,400 to 12,400, Fall River comes 42nd on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Zorra Ontario | 9,755 | 85% | 7.9% | $107K | A |
| 41 | Chelsea Quebec | 8,998 | 80% | 6.1% | $146K | A |
| 42 | Fall River Nova Scotia | 9,214 | 78% | 8.1% | $135K | A |
| 43 | Cornwall Prince Edward Island | 7,920 | 80% | 7.8% | $86K | A |
| 44 | Lake Bonavista Alberta | 11,154 | 76% | 11% | $138K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 89 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 106 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 110 | Timberlea Nova Scotia | 11,014 | 75% | 8.4% | $110K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 668 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Fall River, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Work next door to Fall River
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall River | 78% | 8.1% | $135K | 23.9 min | A | C |
| Beaver Bank 4.7 km | 75% | 8.9% | $108K | 25.9 min | B+ | C+ |
| Lower Sackville 6.9 km | 73% | 10% | $84K | 22.4 min | B | A− |
| Middle Sackville 8.2 km | 75% | 7.4% | $104K | 25.6 min | B+ | B |
| Dutch Settlement 9.1 km | 73% | 9% | $104K | 26.9 min | B | C− |
| Bedford 12 km | 74% | 11% | $98K | 22.3 min | A− | A− |
| Hammonds Plains 15.6 km | 75% | 8.2% | $135K | 26.3 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 Fall River, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment 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.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- Neighbourhood figures. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages stop at the municipality, so Halifax’s page carries them; Fall River’s own figures sum its dissemination areas.
Questions about work in Fall River
What is the average household income in Fall River?
At $134,600 before tax in 2020, the median household in Fall River compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Fall River get to work?
95% of commuters drive, 1% take public transit and 1.7% walk; 29% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Fall River?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Halifax has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Fall River?
The census put unemployment at 8.1% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Halifax metro area at 5.4%.
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).