Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainMeaghers Grant’s household incomes are lower than in 75% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census put unemployment in Meaghers Grant at 11%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Commutes from Meaghers Grant average 37.4 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. 73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Meaghers Grant had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Meaghers Grant stands out on work
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $66,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 37.4 minutes; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. 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 Meaghers Grant: D
Better than 7% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #80 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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 Meaghers Grant: $66,100 at the median
31 of the 35 other places of 2,500+ in the Halifax census division have a higher median. That puts Meaghers Grant 4% below the median of Nova Scotia’s towns, $69,150. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
3.9% of commuters from Meaghers Grant go without a car
Only 14% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Work and the working-age population of Meaghers Grant
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 21 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 54% of residents that age. Counting retirees, 47% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. In October 2026, 65% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
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. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. At its peak, in May 2021, 26,240 people were on EI, 2.9 times the 2019 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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Halifax census division as a whole, not for Meaghers Grant alone.
Meaghers Grant on foot: a C− grade
Better than 20% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #68 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Meaghers Grant and other Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,600
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 234 | Lawrencetown Nova Scotia | 3,509 | 75% | 7% | $110K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 267 | Westphal Nova Scotia | 4,201 | 70% | 10% | $109K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 301 | East Lawrencetown Nova Scotia | 4,020 | 79% | 8.3% | $108K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 684 | Harbour Grace Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,872 | 58% | 20% | $58K | D |
| 685 | Alpine Place Manitoba | 3,721 | 71% | 14% | $43K | D |
| 686 | Meaghers Grant Nova Scotia | 3,430 | 73% | 11% | $66K | D |
| 687 | South Portage Manitoba | 3,037 | 63% | 12% | $50K | D |
| 688 | Ferme-Neuve Quebec | 2,816 | 69% | 12% | $55K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 742 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Meaghers Grant, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Work in the places around Meaghers Grant
Distances here run 32–45 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Meaghers Grant.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaghers Grant | 73% | 11% | $66K | 37.4 min | D | C− |
| Stewiacke 31.9 km | 77% | 7.1% | $66K | 26.1 min | C | B+ |
| Indian Brook 14 35 km | 54% | 14% | $62K | 28.1 min | D− | D |
| Enfield 39.7 km | 74% | 11% | $85K | 31.2 min | C | C |
| Halifax 43.5 km | 72% | 11% | $81K | 24 min | — | — |
| Colchester County, Subdivision C 44.6 km | 71% | 11% | $74K | 25.3 min | C | 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 Meaghers Grant, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Meaghers Grant’s figures add those up. Halifax’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Meaghers Grant
What is the average household income in Meaghers Grant?
At $66,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Meaghers Grant compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Meaghers Grant get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 3.9% walk, and on census day 14% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Meaghers Grant?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Halifax has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Meaghers Grant?
The census put unemployment at 11% 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).