Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Inuvik’s household incomes are higher than in 96% of Canadian towns
Jobs were held by 74% of people aged 15 to 64 in Inuvik in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. An hour or more each way is the commute for 0.7% of workers in Inuvik; the average is 10 minutes. The 2021 census put unemployment in Inuvik at 8.7%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Work in Inuvik, in a few figures
Higher incomes than most towns
At $119,300 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
1,435 people work in Inuvik and 1,350 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 10 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 0.7% 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 Inuvik: graded A+
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #52 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Inuvik households: $119,300 a year at the median
Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Each working day, Inuvik’s workforce swells by 6%
Inuvik takes in some 4 workers for every resident it sends out. 98% 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.
Inuvik has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 10 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 7.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). A quarter-hour or less for 88% of commuters, against 36% in the middle of Canadian 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.
115 people come into Inuvik to work, most from Tuktoyaktuk and Ottawa
- Tuktoyaktuk15
- Ottawa10
- Calgary10
- Edmonton10
- Faro10
- Ross River10
- Old Crow10
- Tsiigehtchic10
- Aklavik10
- Norman Wells10
Of everyone working in Inuvik, 8% come in from elsewhere; 15 make the 124 km trip from Tuktoyaktuk. Outbound, Tuktoyaktuk takes the most: 10 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Inuvik
A smaller share in work than in 54% of Canadian towns.
Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 27% of Inuvik’s commuters
The middle of Canadian towns has 3.4% walking; here, 26% do. The car takes 70% of commuters here, under the 89% in the middle of Canadian towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 4.8% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
6% fewer people are on EI in the Region 1 census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 11%. In May 2021 it reached 420, the most in the series and 2 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.9 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Region 1 census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
The walkability of Inuvik: A+
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #517 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Inuvik is 23rd among 714 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Rosetown Saskatchewan | 2,600 | 87% | 5% | $78K | A+ |
| 22 | Saint-Elzéar Quebec | 2,842 | 90% | 3.8% | $89K | A+ |
| 23 | Inuvik Northwest Territories | 3,337 | 74% | 8.7% | $119K | A+ |
| 24 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| 25 | Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard Quebec | 3,018 | 85% | 4.5% | $83K | 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 Inuvik, and others among Northwest Territories’s towns.
Next to Inuvik: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inuvik | 74% | 8.7% | $119K | 10 min | A+ | A+ |
| Tuktoyaktuk 123.7 km | 39% | 18% | $84K | 11.6 min | B | A |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come. No closer place has figures: this one lies 124 km from Inuvik.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Inuvik, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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 Inuvik
How many jobs are there in Inuvik?
About 1,435 people had their usual place of work in Inuvik at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 107 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Inuvik?
The 2021 census found 8.7% of those working or looking without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Inuvik?
The median household in Inuvik had $119,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Inuvik get to work?
70% of commuters go by car, 26% walk and 1% cycle. On census day 4.8% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Inuvik?
On average 10 minutes; 88% take under 15 minutes and 0.7% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Inuvik work?
Most stay: 98% work in Inuvik. The rest go first to Tuktoyaktuk (10) and Yellowknife (10).
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).