Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Algonquin Highlands has 0.3 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
64% of people aged 15 to 64 in Algonquin Highlands had a job at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Algonquin Highlands take well under an hour: the average is 27.4 minutes, and 11% take 60 minutes or longer. In 2020, a household at the middle of Algonquin Highlands had $77,200 before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
The short version on work in Algonquin Highlands
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 64% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 38% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
On census day in 2021 11% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 5.1%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Algonquin Highlands earns C− for jobs and income
Better than 16% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #682 of 866 in Ontario.
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.
In and out of work in Algonquin Highlands
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Haliburton census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 43%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 38% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 53% in work in October 2026. 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.
More of Algonquin Highlands’ workers leave each day than arrive
It sends out some 4 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 8.8% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
91% of Algonquin Highlands’ residents in work leave it to work; Haliburton Village takes the most
Haliburton Village sends the largest group the other way, 60 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Algonquin Highlands earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 50% of Canadian towns.
That puts Algonquin Highlands 16% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. One of the 3 other places of 2,500+ in the Haliburton census division has a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
Algonquin Highlands gets to work without a car for 3.6% of commuters
The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters. Working at home: 22% here, 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).
How long the commute from Algonquin Highlands takes
In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Only 30% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s 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.
EI claims in the Haliburton census division run 46% above their 2019 level
That works out to around 3.1 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 13%. At its peak, in February 2021, 1,060 people were on EI, 2.9 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Haliburton census division, with Algonquin Highlands one part of it.
Everyday places on foot in Algonquin Highlands: C−
Better than 18% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #821 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 553 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,900, Algonquin Highlands comes 461st on 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Adelaide-Metcalfe Ontario | 3,196 | 86% | 5.9% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Enniskillen Ontario | 3,174 | 82% | 5.2% | $105K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 459 | East Preston Nova Scotia | 2,573 | 61% | 14% | $75K | C− |
| 460 | Dalhousie New Brunswick | 3,255 | 55% | 12% | $54K | C− |
| 461 | Algonquin Highlands Ontario | 2,915 | 64% | 11% | $77K | C− |
| 462 | Cartier Manitoba | 3,739 | 52% | 7.5% | $101K | C− |
| 463 | Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 2,668 | 68% | 9.7% | $61K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 553 | 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 Algonquin Highlands, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work next door to Algonquin Highlands
The nearest places to Algonquin Highlands with figures are 18–43 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algonquin Highlands | 64% | 11% | $77K | 27.4 min | C− | C− |
| Minden Hills 18.1 km | 70% | 11% | $74K | 25.9 min | C− | C− |
| Haliburton Village 21.9 km | 72% | 9% | $78K | 23 min | C+ | C− |
| Lake of Bays 32.2 km | 80% | 11% | $90K | 29.1 min | B | C− |
| Highlands East 39.7 km | 54% | 15% | $63K | 29.8 min | D− | D |
| Bracebridge 43.3 km | 76% | 9.9% | $85K | 23.6 min | B+ | B− |
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 Algonquin Highlands, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Algonquin Highlands
How long is the commute from Algonquin Highlands?
The average commute is 27.4 minutes; 30% of trips take under 15 minutes and 11% an hour or more.
Where do people in Algonquin Highlands work?
Only 8.8% work in Algonquin Highlands itself; the rest go first to Haliburton Village (130) and Lake of Bays (110).
How many jobs are there in Algonquin Highlands?
The 2021 census found about 160 people with their usual workplace in Algonquin Highlands, or 0.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 85 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Algonquin Highlands?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Muskoka-Kawarthas economic region at 5.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 11%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Algonquin Highlands?
The census puts Algonquin Highlands at $77,200 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Algonquin Highlands get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 3.6% walk; 22% 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).