Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Truro are lower than in 96% of Canadian towns
Truro is the usual workplace of 7,880 people, and 3,795 of its own residents commute to a job. At the 2021 census, 66% of Truro’s 15-to-64s were in work; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. 16% of the labour force in Truro was out of work at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What stands out about work in Truro
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 66% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 48%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 16% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6.8% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $55,000 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 7,880 jobs based in Truro and 3,795 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 17.9 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.6% last an hour or longer. 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.
Truro grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #63 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.
Work and the working-age population of Truro
None of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Colchester census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 48%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 56% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 57%. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Truro households: $55,000 a year at the median
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Colchester census division has a higher median. Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Truro’s median is 20% below. 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).
A working day adds 91% to the people at work in Truro
Each resident commuting out of Truro is matched by about 4 coming in. The job is inside the municipality for 64% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 17.9 minutes from Truro
The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns averages 23 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 64%, more than the 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. An hour or more: 5.6% of commuters, close to the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 15.6 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.
5,440 people come into Truro to work, most from Colchester County, Subdivision B and Colchester County, Subdivision C
- Colchester County, Subdivision B505
- Halifax265
- Colchester County, Subdivision C265
- Millbrook 2775
- Sheet Harbour 36 (IRI)40
- Enfield30
- St. Martins30
- Colchester County, Subdivision A25
- New Glasgow20
- Windsor15
69% of the people who work in Truro live outside it, 2,470 of them in Colchester County, Subdivision B, 10 km away. Colchester County, Subdivision B is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 505 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Truro gets to work without a car for 13% of commuters
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 11% against 3.3%. Fewer drive than in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 85% against 92%. Home was the workplace for 14%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.2% 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 Colchester census division, 12% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%. The count topped out in May 2021 at 3,670 people, 2.2 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 5.3 receive EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Colchester 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).
Truro grades A for walkability
Better than 93% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #9 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Truro is 449th of 560 Canadian towns of 10,300 to 19,800 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 79 | Timberlea Nova Scotia | 11,014 | 75% | 8.4% | $110K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 135 | Hammonds Plains Nova Scotia | 13,844 | 75% | 8.2% | $135K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 151 | Middle Sackville Nova Scotia | 14,898 | 75% | 7.4% | $104K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 447 | Vieux Greenfield Park Quebec | 10,998 | 75% | 9.3% | $67K | C− |
| 448 | Carlington Ontario | 16,354 | 65% | 13% | $72K | C− |
| 449 | Truro Nova Scotia | 14,652 | 66% | 16% | $55K | C− |
| 450 | East Willowdale Ontario | 15,514 | 62% | 14% | $100K | C− |
| 451 | Avondale Ontario | 13,803 | 71% | 11% | $84K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 560 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Truro, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Truro and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truro | 66% | 16% | $55K | 17.9 min | C− | A |
| Millbrook 27 3.7 km | 45% | 14% | $54K | 21.3 min | D | B− |
| Colchester County, Subdivision C 8 km | 71% | 11% | $74K | 25.3 min | C | C− |
| Colchester County, Subdivision B 9.9 km | 73% | 11% | $70K | 23.4 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 Truro, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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.
Questions about work in Truro
How long is the commute from Truro?
17.9 minutes is the average trip, with 64% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.6% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Truro work?
64% work in Truro itself; of those who leave, the most go to Colchester County, Subdivision B (505), then Halifax (265).
How many jobs are there in Truro?
The 2021 census counted about 7,880 people working in Truro: 2.1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 643 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Truro?
The 2021 census found 16% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the North Shore economic region, is 6.8% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Truro?
Before tax, half the households in Truro had more than $55,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Truro get to work?
By car: 85% of commuters, 0.2% take public transit, 11% walk and 1.3% cycle; on census day 14% of those in work worked from home.
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).