Photo: misterjerk2 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Upper Tantallon are higher than in 98% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census found 80% of working-age people in Upper Tantallon employed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. At 29.5 minutes on average, the trip to work from Upper Tantallon compares with 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Of everyone in Upper Tantallon working or looking for work in May 2021, 8.6% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What the numbers say about work in Upper Tantallon
More people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 80% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 65%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $129,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 29.5 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.
Jobs & income in Upper Tantallon: graded A−
Better than 81% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #7 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.
Work and the working-age population of Upper Tantallon
All 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 72% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 65% were working. In October 2026, 65% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 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.
Upper Tantallon households: $129,300 a year at the median
2 of the 35 other places of 2,500+ in the Halifax census division have a higher median. Set beside Nova Scotia’s towns, where the median is $69,150, Upper Tantallon sits 87% above. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 4.2% of commuters in Upper Tantallon
Transit takes 2.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Working at home: 28% here, 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).
EI claims in the Halifax census division run 18% above their 2019 level
That works out to around 3.7 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. 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.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Halifax census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Upper Tantallon on foot: a C− grade
Better than 23% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #66 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Upper Tantallon is 133rd among 701 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− |
| … | ||||||
| 131 | River Bend Ontario | 5,930 | 73% | 12% | $132K | A− |
| 132 | Bridgwater Forest Manitoba | 5,076 | 77% | 8% | $109K | A− |
| 133 | Upper Tantallon Nova Scotia | 5,248 | 80% | 8.6% | $129K | A− |
| 134 | Inkster Gardens Manitoba | 6,115 | 75% | 8.8% | $107K | A− |
| 135 | Verchères Quebec | 5,819 | 84% | 4.7% | $90K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 242 | Westphal Nova Scotia | 4,201 | 70% | 10% | $109K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 278 | East Lawrencetown Nova Scotia | 4,020 | 79% | 8.3% | $108K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 701 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Upper Tantallon, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
How Upper Tantallon compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Tantallon | 80% | 8.6% | $129K | 29.5 min | A− | C− |
| Head of St Margarets Bay 3.9 km | 68% | 11% | $101K | 29.4 min | C | C− |
| Hubley 4.8 km | 79% | 7.4% | $112K | 27.2 min | A− | D |
| Hammonds Plains 8.1 km | 75% | 8.2% | $135K | 26.3 min | B+ | C− |
| Timberlea 13.3 km | 75% | 8.4% | $110K | 23.6 min | A− | B |
| Middle Sackville 15.4 km | 75% | 7.4% | $104K | 25.6 min | B+ | B |
| Bedford 15.7 km | 74% | 11% | $98K | 22.3 min | A− | 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 Upper Tantallon, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Upper Tantallon’s dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Halifax’s page.
Questions about work in Upper Tantallon
What is the average household income in Upper Tantallon?
The median household in Upper Tantallon had $129,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Upper Tantallon get to work?
Driving takes 92% of commuters to work, 2.2% take public transit and 2% walk, and on census day 28% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Upper Tantallon?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Halifax as one municipality.
What is the unemployment rate in Upper Tantallon?
At the 2021 census 8.6% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Halifax metro area, gives 5.4% in 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).