Photo: Madereugeneandrew · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Kingston than in 74% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Kingston had more than $71,500 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. From Kingston, the drive or ride to work averages 20 minutes, with 3.5% going an hour or longer. When the 2021 census was taken, 8.9% of people in Kingston who wanted a job had none; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The short version on work in Kingston
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $71,500 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
7,395 people work in Kingston and 7,085 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 20 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.5% 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 Kingston: graded C+
Better than 40% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #28 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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 Kingston’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 62% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Nova Scotia’s towns, where the median is $69,150, Kingston sits 3% above. One of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in the Kings census division has a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
In and out of Kingston: the working day evens out
56% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 20 minutes, commutes from Kingston are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns averages 23 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 46%, close to the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 17.8 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
3,456 people come into Kingston to work, most from Annapolis County, Subdivision C and Kings County, Subdivision B
Of everyone working in Kingston, 47% come in from elsewhere; 720 make the 16 km trip from Annapolis County, Subdivision C. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Berwick (675).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Kingston: 70%
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Kings census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 53%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 56% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 58% of residents that age. 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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 4% of Kingston’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 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).
11% more people are on EI in the Kings census division than in 2019
Roughly 4.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 1%. In May 2021 it reached 3,880, the most in the series and 2.3 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 Kings census division as a whole, not for Kingston alone.
Everyday places on foot in Kingston: B−
Better than 46% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #39 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 17,200 to 33,200, Kingston ranks 179th of 352 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Cole Harbour Nova Scotia | 21,627 | 77% | 9.9% | $103K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 59 | Bedford Nova Scotia | 28,848 | 74% | 11% | $98K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 86 | Woodlawn Nova Scotia | 20,925 | 70% | 11% | $95K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 177 | Edmundston New Brunswick | 18,174 | 72% | 7.9% | $59K | C+ |
| 178 | Sainte-Sophie Quebec | 19,467 | 79% | 5.7% | $84K | C+ |
| 179 | Kings County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 24,574 | 70% | 8.9% | $72K | C+ |
| 180 | Fraser Heights British Columbia | 17,688 | 70% | 8.4% | $122K | C+ |
| 181 | East Burnaby British Columbia | 17,233 | 72% | 8.3% | $108K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 352 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Kingston, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
How the places next to Kingston compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | 70% | 8.9% | $72K | 20 min | C+ | B− |
| Berwick 8 km | 64% | 11% | $61K | 18.4 min | C− | A |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision C 16.2 km | 70% | 9.3% | $65K | 21.5 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 Kingston, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Kingston as part of Kings County, Subdivision A, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Kingston
How many jobs are there in Kingston?
The 2021 census found about 7,395 people with their usual workplace in Kingston, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 544 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Kingston?
The 2021 census found 8.9% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Annapolis Valley economic region, is 4.3% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Kingston?
The census puts Kingston at $71,500 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Kingston get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 0.7% take public transit, 2.9% walk and 0.4% cycle; 13% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Kingston?
The average commute is 20 minutes; 46% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.5% an hour or more.
Where do people in Kingston work?
56% work in Kingston itself; of those who leave, the most go to Berwick (675), then Kentville (645).
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).