Photo: Sarbelito Avila · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake Echo’s household incomes are higher than in 78% of Canadian towns
Lake Echo counted 74% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Commutes from Lake Echo average 30.7 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. In May 2021, unemployment in Lake Echo reached 12%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Lake Echo, in a few figures
Work near the middle
The 2021 census found 74% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 58%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Lake Echo: C+
Better than 39% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #30 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 1.6% of Lake Echo’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 95% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Only 17% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How many in Lake Echo were working in 2021
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 23 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. 66% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Counting retirees, 58% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Half the households in Lake Echo had more than $92,700 in 2020
Lake Echo’s median is 34% above the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150). 17 of the 35 other places of 2,500+ in the Halifax census division have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
In the Halifax census division, 18% more people receive EI than in 2019
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%. May 2021 was the busiest month, with 26,240 people on EI, 2.9 times 2019’s average.
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). Lake Echo shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Halifax census division.
The Walkability grade for Lake Echo: C−
Better than 18% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #74 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
439th of 701: where Lake Echo ranks among Canadian towns of 3,700 to 7,100
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Neepawa Manitoba | 6,328 | 85% | 2.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 120 | Hubley Nova Scotia | 6,337 | 79% | 7.4% | $112K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 133 | Upper Tantallon Nova Scotia | 5,248 | 80% | 8.6% | $129K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 242 | Westphal Nova Scotia | 4,201 | 70% | 10% | $109K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 437 | Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola British Columbia | 4,540 | 75% | 7.7% | $94K | C+ |
| 438 | Danville Quebec | 3,944 | 80% | 6.5% | $61K | C+ |
| 439 | Lake Echo Nova Scotia | 5,223 | 74% | 12% | $93K | C+ |
| 440 | Albion Ontario | 4,585 | 70% | 12% | $103K | C+ |
| 441 | Rivers Edge / Castlemore Crossing Ontario | 6,577 | 70% | 12% | $146K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 701 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Lake Echo, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Work in the places around Lake Echo
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Echo | 74% | 12% | $93K | 30.7 min | C+ | C− |
| East Preston 5.3 km | 61% | 14% | $75K | 25.6 min | C− | C |
| Lawrencetown 7.6 km | 75% | 7% | $110K | 26.6 min | B+ | D |
| Gaetz Brook 8.9 km | 73% | 11% | $82K | 31.6 min | C− | D |
| Westphal 9.9 km | 70% | 10% | $109K | 23.6 min | B | B− |
| East Lawrencetown 10 km | 79% | 8.3% | $108K | 33.4 min | B | D |
| Cole Harbour 12.1 km | 77% | 9.9% | $103K | 23.7 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 Lake Echo, 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 census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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. 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. 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
- Neighbourhood figures. Lake Echo’s census figures are summed from its dissemination areas. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages are published only for the whole municipality, so they are on Halifax’s page.
Questions about work in Lake Echo
What is the average household income in Lake Echo?
The census puts Lake Echo at $92,700 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Lake Echo get to work?
Driving takes 95% of commuters to work, 1.6% take public transit, and on census day 17% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Lake Echo?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Halifax has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Lake Echo?
The 2021 census found 12% 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, 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).