Photo: Paulo O from Halifax, Canada · CC BY 2.0Few Canadian towns have household incomes as high as Hammonds Plains’
Home was the workplace for 30% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. 75% of people aged 15 to 64 in Hammonds Plains had a job at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Census day 2021 found 8.2% of Hammonds Plains’ labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Hammonds Plains at work: what stands out
Work near the middle
The 2021 census found 75% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 64%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $134,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Hammonds Plains grades B+
Better than 71% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #9 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.
Household income in Hammonds Plains: $134,900 at the median
Hammonds Plains’ median is 95% above the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150). No other place of 2,500 or more in the Halifax census division has a higher median. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
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.
Who in Hammonds Plains has a job
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 25 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 65% of the wider area’s adults in work. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 69% of residents that age. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 2.4% of Hammonds Plains’ commuters
Transit takes 0.5% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
18% more people are on EI in the Halifax census division than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 3%. At its peak, in May 2021, 26,240 people were on EI, 2.9 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.7 are on EI.
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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Hammonds Plains alone, so this card uses the figure for the Halifax census division.
Walkability in Hammonds Plains: graded C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #63 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Hammonds Plains ranks: 147th of 587 Canadian towns of 9,700 to 18,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 72 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Timberlea Nova Scotia | 11,014 | 75% | 8.4% | $110K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 145 | Convent Glen - Orleans Woods Ontario | 14,118 | 74% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| 146 | Summerside Alberta | 16,760 | 77% | 9.8% | $128K | B+ |
| 147 | Hammonds Plains Nova Scotia | 13,844 | 75% | 8.2% | $135K | B+ |
| 148 | Stittsville East Ontario | 10,482 | 76% | 9.3% | $130K | B+ |
| 149 | Copperfield Alberta | 13,952 | 77% | 10% | $111K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 164 | Middle Sackville Nova Scotia | 14,898 | 75% | 7.4% | $104K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 587 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Hammonds Plains, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
How the places next to Hammonds Plains compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hammonds Plains | 75% | 8.2% | $135K | 26.3 min | B+ | C− |
| Middle Sackville 7.7 km | 75% | 7.4% | $104K | 25.6 min | B+ | B |
| Upper Tantallon 8.1 km | 80% | 8.6% | $129K | 29.5 min | A− | C− |
| Bedford 8.3 km | 74% | 11% | $98K | 22.3 min | A− | A− |
| Lower Sackville 9.2 km | 73% | 10% | $84K | 22.4 min | B | A− |
| Hubley 9.2 km | 79% | 7.4% | $112K | 27.2 min | A− | D |
| Timberlea 10 km | 75% | 8.4% | $110K | 23.6 min | A− | 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 Hammonds Plains, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Hammonds Plains’ lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Halifax’s page.
Questions about work in Hammonds Plains
What is the unemployment rate in Hammonds Plains?
The 2021 census found 8.2% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Halifax metro area, is 5.4% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Hammonds Plains?
At $134,900 before tax in 2020, the median household in Hammonds Plains compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Hammonds Plains get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 0.5% take public transit and 1.9% walk, and on census day 30% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Hammonds Plains?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Halifax’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
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).