Photo: A Disappearing Act · CC BY-SA 4.0Few Canadian towns have household incomes as low as Middleton’s
At the 2021 census, 62% of Middleton’s 15-to-64s were in work, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Middleton: 1,375, for 500 residents with a usual workplace. The 2021 census put unemployment in Middleton at 8.5%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Middleton’s work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 62% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 41%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $48,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
1,375 people work in Middleton and 500 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 20.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.9% 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.
On jobs and income, Middleton grades D
Better than 11% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In and out of work in Middleton
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Annapolis census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 45%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 41%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 56% in October 2026. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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.
Middleton households: $48,600 a year at the median
Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Middleton’s median is 30% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Annapolis census division has a higher median. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
On a working day, 1,415 people work in Middleton, 2.6 times its working residents
Middleton takes in some 4 workers for every resident it sends out. Of those who commute, 44% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 20.9 minutes, commutes from Middleton are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
In the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns, the average commute is 23 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 48%, more than the 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 4.9%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.8 minutes.
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.
1,154 people come into Middleton to work, most from Annapolis County, Subdivision C and Kingston
Of everyone working in Middleton, 84% come in from elsewhere; 435 make the 4 km trip from Annapolis County, Subdivision C. Going the other way, Kingston is the biggest single destination (135).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Leaving the car at home: 8.2% of commuters in Middleton
On foot: 6.6% of commuters, well above the 3.3% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. 88% drive to work, fewer than the 92% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Only 6.2% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.6% of commuters, against 3.5% 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).
In the Annapolis census division, 9% more people receive EI than in 2019
That works out to around 5 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 3%. The highest month was March 2021: 1,560 people, 2.3 times the 2019 level.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Annapolis census division, Middleton included.
Getting around Middleton on foot earns A
Better than 87% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Middleton, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleton | 62% | 8.5% | $49K | 20.9 min | D | A |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision C 4.3 km | 70% | 9.3% | $65K | 21.5 min | C | C |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision B 16.8 km | 66% | 13% | $56K | 24.9 min | D | 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 Middleton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Middleton
How do people in Middleton get to work?
Driving takes 88% of commuters to work, 1.6% take public transit and 6.6% walk, and on census day 6.2% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Middleton?
About 20.9 minutes on average, with 48% under a quarter-hour and 4.9% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Middleton work?
Only 44% work in Middleton itself; the rest go first to Kingston (135) and Annapolis County, Subdivision B (40).
How many jobs are there in Middleton?
Some 1,375 people worked in Middleton at the 2021 census: 2.8 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 98 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Middleton?
The census put unemployment at 8.5% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Annapolis Valley economic region at 4.3%.
What is the average household income in Middleton?
Before tax, half the households in Middleton had more than $48,600 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).