Photo: WayeMason · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Halifax works close to home: 97% of commuters have their job there
Before tax, the typical household in Halifax brought in $81,200 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. In May 2021, unemployment in Halifax reached 11%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Halifax take well under an hour: the average is 24 minutes, and 3.9% take 60 minutes or longer.
What sets Halifax apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 72% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 58%. In work ↓
More jobs than the typical town
135,815 people work in Halifax and 129,675 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs & income in Halifax, before the letters
Its letter, once Canada is graded, rests on four census figures: the share of 15-to-64s in work, median household income, unemployment and the average commute, each set against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Halifax keeps its workforce on a working day
129,675 residents of Halifax had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 135,815 people had theirs in Halifax, wherever they lived.
About 2 people arrive to work in Halifax for each resident who goes out.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
10,549 people come into Halifax to work, most from Enfield and Windsor
- Enfield3,840
- Windsor1,525
- Chester570
- Colchester County, Subdivision C480
- Lunenburg315
- Colchester County, Subdivision B310
- Indian Brook 14285
- Truro265
- Cape Breton210
- Stewiacke175
- Enfield1,095
- Truro340
- Chester300
- Windsor295
- Bridgewater120
- Toronto115
- Kingston100
- Cape Breton100
- Colchester County, Subdivision B85
- Wolfville80
Of everyone working in Halifax, 7.8% come in from elsewhere; 3,840 make the 38 km trip from Enfield. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Enfield (1,095).
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 Halifax work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In Halifax, 72% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 36 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 15 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 66% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 58% of residents 15 and over were in work. In October 2026, 65% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 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 in Halifax earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
23 of the 36 other places of 2,500+ in the Halifax census division have a higher median. Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Halifax’s median is 17% above. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
How household incomes vary across Halifax: $56K to $135K
Median household income in each of Halifax’s 36 neighbourhoods: the highest is 2.4 times the lowest. The share of 15-to-64s in work runs from 55% in Sheet Harbour to 80% in Upper Tantallon.
| Neighbourhood | People | Household income | In work, 15–64 | Average trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Park West | 34,404 | $73,900 | 73% | 23.5 min |
| Bedford | 28,848 | $98,000 | 74% | 22.3 min |
| Austinville | 28,021 | $60,200 | 70% | 20.2 min |
| Westmount | 23,207 | $76,700 | 73% | 20.5 min |
| South End | 22,012 | $76,700 | 66% | 23.3 min |
| Cole Harbour | 21,627 | $103,100 | 77% | 23.7 min |
| Woodlawn | 20,925 | $95,100 | 70% | 21.7 min |
| Lower Sackville | 20,171 | $83,700 | 73% | 22.4 min |
| North End | 19,733 | $66,600 | 70% | 21.3 min |
| Schmidtville | 18,105 | $55,800 | 67% | 21.2 min |
| Fairview | 16,296 | $63,100 | 69% | 21 min |
| Middle Sackville | 14,898 | $103,500 | 75% | 25.6 min |
| Manor Park | 14,148 | $69,200 | 69% | 20.8 min |
| Hammonds Plains | 13,844 | $134,900 | 75% | 26.3 min |
| Windsor Park | 13,044 | $70,200 | 70% | 20.1 min |
| Timberlea | 11,014 | $110,100 | 75% | 23.6 min |
| Eastern Passage | 10,745 | $92,300 | 68% | 24.4 min |
| Portland Estates | 10,164 | $87,400 | 77% | 20.3 min |
| Hatchet Lake | 9,930 | $93,000 | 74% | 29.6 min |
| Mount Royale | 9,340 | $73,100 | 72% | 21.3 min |
| Fall River | 9,214 | $134,600 | 78% | 23.9 min |
| Beaver Bank | 9,157 | $107,700 | 75% | 25.9 min |
| Harrietsfield | 6,786 | $96,200 | 71% | 27.9 min |
| Hubley | 6,337 | $111,900 | 79% | 27.2 min |
| Dutch Settlement | 6,234 | $103,800 | 73% | 26.9 min |
| Upper Tantallon | 5,248 | $129,300 | 80% | 29.5 min |
| Lake Echo | 5,223 | $92,700 | 74% | 30.7 min |
| Gaetz Brook | 4,473 | $82,000 | 73% | 31.6 min |
| Westphal | 4,201 | $108,600 | 70% | 23.6 min |
| East Lawrencetown | 4,020 | $108,200 | 79% | 33.4 min |
| Lawrencetown | 3,509 | $110,100 | 75% | 26.6 min |
| Meaghers Grant | 3,430 | $66,100 | 73% | 37.4 min |
| Sheet Harbour | 3,334 | $56,100 | 55% | 30.3 min |
| Head of St Margarets Bay | 2,885 | $101,200 | 68% | 29.4 min |
| Musquodoboit Harbour | 2,719 | $81,600 | 70% | 37.5 min |
| East Preston | 2,573 | $75,000 | 61% | 25.6 min |
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: each neighbourhood summed from its dissemination areas; incomes are 2020’s.
Leaving the car at home: 16% of commuters in Halifax
By transit: 8.1% of commuters, well above the 0.7% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. The car takes 82% of commuters here, under the 92% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Home was the workplace for 28%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%.
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.
At 24 minutes, commutes from Halifax are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 21.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns averages 23 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 30%, 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
In the Halifax census division, 18% more people receive EI than in 2019
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. The highest month was May 2021: 26,240 people, 2.9 times the 2019 level. That is about 3.7 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Halifax census division as a whole, not for Halifax alone.
Around Halifax: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | 72% | 11% | $81K | 24 min | — | — |
| Austinville 1.4 km | 70% | 13% | $60K | 20.2 min | C− | A+ |
| Windsor Park 3.3 km | 70% | 13% | $70K | 20.1 min | C+ | A+ |
| North End 3.6 km | 70% | 14% | $67K | 21.3 min | C | A+ |
| Manor Park 3.9 km | 69% | 14% | $69K | 20.8 min | C | A+ |
| Fairview 4.8 km | 69% | 13% | $63K | 21 min | C− | A+ |
| Woodlawn 4.9 km | 70% | 11% | $95K | 21.7 min | B+ | A− |
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 Halifax, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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.
Questions about work in Halifax
What is the average household income in Halifax?
Halifax’s middle household had $81,200 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Halifax get to work?
82% of commuters drive, 8.1% take public transit, 7.3% walk and 0.7% cycle; 28% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Halifax?
The average commute is 24 minutes; 30% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.9% an hour or more.
Where do people in Halifax work?
Most stay: 97% work in Halifax. The rest go first to Enfield (1,095) and Truro (340).
How many jobs are there in Halifax?
The 2021 census found about 135,815 people with their usual workplace in Halifax, or 1.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 15,089 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Halifax?
The 2021 census found 11% 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).
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). 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).