Photo: The Town of Ajax · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Ajax top those of 96% of Canadian towns
On census day, 33% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Ajax take well under an hour: the average is 34.8 minutes, and 15% take 60 minutes or longer. Jobs were held by 69% of people aged 15 to 64 in Ajax in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Ajax’s work numbers say
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 13% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 7.1%. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
At $118,700 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 34.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 15% last an hour or longer. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 33% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Ajax grades C for jobs and income
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #534 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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 Ajax
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Durham census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 67% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Half the households in Ajax had more than $118,700 in 2020
One of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Durham census division has a higher median. That puts Ajax 30% above the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
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 Ajax
Trips under 15 minutes: 22%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 31.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
Without a car, 11% of Ajax’s commuters get to work
Transit takes 8% of commuters, above the 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. 87% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Ontario’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Ajax empties a little on a working day
32,385 residents of Ajax had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 20,065 people had theirs in Ajax, wherever they lived.
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 27% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
73% of Ajax’s residents in work leave it to work; Toronto takes the most
- Oshawa2,780
- Whitby2,525
- Toronto1,600
- Pickering1,460
- Bowmanville1,335
- Markham265
- Port Perry230
- Lindsay170
- Port Hope115
- Peterborough70
- Toronto12,090
- Pickering3,465
- Whitby1,925
- Markham1,590
- Oshawa1,360
- Vaughan655
- Mississauga605
- Richmond Hill365
- Bowmanville320
- Brampton215
Oshawa sends the largest group the other way, 2,780 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Ajax work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
EI claims in the Durham census division run 44% above their 2019 level
In February 2021 it reached 38,290, the most in the series and 3.2 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 3%.
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). Ajax doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Durham census division.
On getting around on foot, Ajax grades A
Better than 91% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #379 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ajax next to Canadian towns of 98,800 to 190,500: 35th of 39 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| 19 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 68% | 11% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Barrie Ontario | 174,469 | 70% | 13% | $93K | C |
| 34 | Brantford Ontario | 123,521 | 69% | 12% | $79K | C |
| 35 | Ajax Ontario | 141,111 | 69% | 13% | $119K | C |
| 36 | Coquitlam British Columbia | 173,599 | 73% | 9% | $92K | C |
| 37 | St. Catharines Ontario | 153,865 | 66% | 16% | $72K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 39 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 59% | 20% | $63K | C− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Ajax, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Ajax and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajax | 69% | 13% | $119K | 34.8 min | C | A |
| Pickering 6.6 km | 71% | 13% | $119K | 34.3 min | C | A |
| Whitby 8.5 km | 71% | 12% | $123K | 33.3 min | C+ | A |
| West Rouge 12.1 km | 69% | 14% | $114K | 37.3 min | C | A+ |
| Centennial Scarborough 13.1 km | 71% | 12% | $140K | 37.7 min | C | A+ |
| Highland Creek 14.2 km | 67% | 15% | $127K | 34.9 min | C | A+ |
| Oshawa 15 km | 64% | 15% | $86K | 32.3 min | D | A |
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 Ajax, 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. 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 Ajax
How long is the commute from Ajax?
The average commute is 34.8 minutes; 22% of trips take under 15 minutes and 15% an hour or more.
Where do people in Ajax work?
27% work in Ajax itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Toronto (12,090), then Pickering (3,465).
How many jobs are there in Ajax?
The 2021 census found about 20,065 people with their usual workplace in Ajax, or 0.6 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 3,078 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Ajax?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Toronto metro area at 7.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 13%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Ajax?
The median household in Ajax had $118,700 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Ajax get to work?
87% of commuters drive, 8% take public transit, 2.5% walk and 0.3% cycle; 33% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).