Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Inverness trail those of 75% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 14% of Inverness’ labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 4.7% of workers in Inverness; the average is 22.2 minutes. With 73% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, Inverness matches the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Inverness
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 14% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 7%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $66,100 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
1,515 people work in Inverness and 1,315 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 22.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.7% take an hour or more. The trip 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 Inverness: graded C
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #36 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
How many in Inverness were working in 2021
All 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Inverness census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 50% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 48% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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 earned in Inverness: $66,100 in 2020
One of the 3 other places of 2,500+ in the Inverness census division has a higher median. Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Inverness’ median is 4% below. 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).
Workers pour into Inverness: 13% more on a working day
1,315 residents of Inverness had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,515 people had theirs in Inverness, wherever they lived.
For every resident who leaves Inverness for work, about 2 people come in. The job is inside the municipality for 77% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Inverness
Timed exactly, the average is 19.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). Trips under 15 minutes: 51%, more 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.
501 people come into Inverness to work, most from Inverness County, Subdivision A and Inverness County, Subdivision C
Of everyone working in Inverness, 33% come in from elsewhere; 205 make the 49 km trip from Inverness County, Subdivision A. The main destination the other way is Port Hawkesbury, with 100.
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 Inverness work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 6.2% of commuters in Inverness
Home was the workplace for 12%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 1.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 91% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
EI claims in the Inverness census division run 19% below their 2019 level
The count topped out in February 2021 at 2,750 people, 1.5 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 12.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 8%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Inverness 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).
Getting around Inverness on foot earns B
Better than 55% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #34 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Inverness is 496th of 720 Canadian towns of 3,600 to 6,900
| # | 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 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 123 | Hubley Nova Scotia | 6,337 | 79% | 7.4% | $112K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 137 | Upper Tantallon Nova Scotia | 5,248 | 80% | 8.6% | $129K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 249 | Westphal Nova Scotia | 4,201 | 70% | 10% | $109K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 494 | Country Hills Ontario | 4,561 | 70% | 14% | $77K | C |
| 495 | Timiskaming, Unorganized, West Part Ontario | 3,606 | 76% | 9.3% | $80K | C |
| 496 | Inverness County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 5,138 | 73% | 14% | $66K | C |
| 497 | Pleasantview Alberta | 3,746 | 67% | 14% | $78K | C |
| 498 | Stirling-Rawdon Ontario | 5,489 | 74% | 8.4% | $81K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 720 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Inverness, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Work in the places around Inverness
No closer places have figures: these lie 40–63 km from Inverness.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inverness | 73% | 14% | $66K | 22.2 min | C | B |
| Inverness County, Subdivision C 40 km | 67% | 17% | $72K | 25.5 min | C− | D |
| Inverness County, Subdivision A 49.2 km | 65% | 21% | $65K | 21.1 min | C− | D |
| Victoria County, Subdivision B 51.9 km | 61% | 21% | $70K | 25.5 min | D | B− |
| Port Hawkesbury 57.8 km | 63% | 18% | $65K | 16.4 min | C | A |
| Richmond County, Subdivision A 63.2 km | 65% | 15% | $61K | 24.8 min | D | 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 Inverness, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Inverness as part of Inverness County, Subdivision B, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Inverness
How many jobs are there in Inverness?
About 1,515 people had their usual place of work in Inverness at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 238 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Inverness?
At the 2021 census 14% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Cape Breton economic region, gives 7% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Inverness?
The median household in Inverness had $66,100 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Inverness get to work?
91% of commuters go by car, 1.5% take public transit and 4.7% walk. On census day 12% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Inverness?
On average 22.2 minutes; 51% take under 15 minutes and 4.7% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Inverness work?
Most stay: 77% work in Inverness. The rest go first to Port Hawkesbury (100) and Victoria County, Subdivision B (40).
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) · 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).