Photo: Patricia · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer working-age people have jobs in Pond Inlet than in almost any other Canadian town
Pond Inlet had an unemployment rate of 18% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Workers in Pond Inlet spend 13.3 minutes on the way to work on average, and 2.7% need an hour or more. Median household income in Pond Inlet was $98,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Pond Inlet: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 43% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 41%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
18% 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 of households had more than $98,800 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 13.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.7% 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.
On jobs and income, Pond Inlet grades B+
Better than 70% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In Pond Inlet, 43% of the working-age population has a job
50% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
A smaller share in work than in almost any Canadian town.
How Pond Inlet’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 85% of Canadian towns.
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).
Commuting times in Pond Inlet
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 11.9 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 71% 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.
Each working day, more people leave Pond Inlet for work than come in
It sends out some 3 workers for every one it takes in. Of those who commute, 75% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
25% of Pond Inlet’s residents in work leave it to work; Baker Lake takes the most
- Baker Lake30
- Arctic Bay20
- Iqaluit10
- Hall Beach10
- Arviat10
Of those coming in, Winnipeg supplies the most: 10.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
43% of commuters from Pond Inlet go without a car
Fewer drive than in the middle of Canadian towns: 44% against 89%. Only 8.8% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. 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).
In the Qikiqtaaluk census division, 5% more people receive EI than in 2019
August 2021 was the busiest month, with 750 people on EI, 2 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 3.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Qikiqtaaluk 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).
Pond Inlet on foot: a A− grade
Better than 77% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Pond Inlet, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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.
- 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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 Pond Inlet
How long is the commute from Pond Inlet?
About 13.3 minutes on average, with 71% under a quarter-hour and 2.7% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Pond Inlet work?
75% work in Pond Inlet itself; of those who leave, the most go to Baker Lake (30), then Arctic Bay (20).
How many jobs are there in Pond Inlet?
Some 270 people worked in Pond Inlet at the 2021 census: 0.8 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 23 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Pond Inlet?
At the 2021 census, unemployment stood at 18%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Pond Inlet?
The median household in Pond Inlet had $98,800 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Pond Inlet get to work?
Driving takes 44% of commuters to work, 43% walk, and on census day 8.8% of those in work were at 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, 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).