Photo: Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0Hay River’s household incomes are higher than in 98% of Canadian towns
In Hay River, 78% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Most commutes from Hay River take well under an hour: the average is 13.9 minutes, and 5.5% take 60 minutes or longer. The 2021 census put unemployment in Hay River at 6.5%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Hay River at work: what stands out
Less unemployment than most towns
6.5% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $129,200 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 13.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 5.5% 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.
Hay River grades A+ for jobs and income
Better than almost every Canadian town on three measures together, #13 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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 many in Hay River were working in 2021
A larger share in work than in 63% of Canadian towns.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 69%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 65% were working. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Hay River households: $129,200 a year at the median
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).
How long the commute from Hay River takes
Trips under 15 minutes: 80%, more than the 36% in the middle of Canadian towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.2 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.
In and out of Hay River: the working day evens out
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 90% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
9.6% of Hay River’s residents in work leave it to work; Region 6, Unorganized takes the most
- Hay River Dene 120
- Paradise10
- Lethbridge10
- Fort Liard10
- Fort Providence10
- Enterprise10
- Yellowknife10
- Region 6, Unorganized55
- Hay River Dene 130
- Fort Smith15
- Prince George10
- Fort Simpson10
- Yellowknife10
Coming the other way, Hay River Dene 1 sends the most (20).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 8.6% of Hay River’s commuters get to work
85% drive to work, fewer than the 89% in the middle of Canadian towns. Home was the workplace for 6%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.6% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 8% of commuters, well above the 3.4% 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 Region 5 census division, 12% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Region 5 census division, Hay River included.
Roughly 3.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 15%. At its peak, in January 2021, 450 people were on EI, 1.9 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).
Walkability in Hay River: graded B
Better than 62% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #1,746 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,500, Hay River ranks 7th of 714 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 6 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| 7 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| 8 | South River Heights Manitoba | 2,632 | 84% | 5.3% | $112K | A+ |
| 9 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Inuvik Northwest Territories | 3,337 | 74% | 8.7% | $119K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 714 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Hay River, and others among Northwest Territories’s towns.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Hay River, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- 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 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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.
- 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 Hay River
How do people in Hay River get to work?
Driving takes 85% of commuters to work, 0.6% take public transit and 8% walk, and on census day 6% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Hay River?
About 13.9 minutes on average, with 80% under a quarter-hour and 5.5% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Hay River work?
90% work in Hay River itself; of those who leave, the most go to Region 6, Unorganized (55), then Hay River Dene 1 (30).
How many jobs are there in Hay River?
Some 1,355 people worked in Hay River at the 2021 census: 1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 165 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Hay River?
6.5% of the labour force was unemployed on census day in May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Hay River?
At $129,200 before tax in 2020, the median household in Hay River compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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, 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).