Photo: Boxcarphilly · CC BY 3.0Households in Amaranth earn more than those in 98% of Canadian towns
In Amaranth, 78% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Workers in Amaranth spend 38.8 minutes on the way to work on average, and 25% need an hour or more. The 2021 census put unemployment in Amaranth at 9%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work figures that set Amaranth apart
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $127,700 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 38.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 25% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Amaranth: B
Better than 57% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #248 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.
What households earned in Amaranth: $127,700 in 2020
The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Amaranth is 39% above it. Of the 7 other places of 2,500 or more in the Dufferin census division, 2 have a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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 Amaranth takes
Timed exactly, the average is 34.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 22%, fewer than the 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.
A commuter town: Amaranth sends out more workers than it takes in
Each person commuting in is matched by about 4 residents going out. Of those who commute, 12% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
88% of Amaranth’s residents in work leave it to work; Orangeville takes the most
- Orangeville345
- Brampton180
- Mississauga120
- Shelburne100
- Toronto75
- Bolton55
- Alliston40
- Mono35
- Vaughan30
- Guelph30
Inbound, the leader is Orangeville (90).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Amaranth were working in 2021
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Dufferin census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 64% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 71%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 65% were working. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
2.3% of commuters from Amaranth go without a car
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 97% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 22%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How EI claims in the Dufferin census division have moved since 2019
At its peak, in April 2021, 3,740 people were on EI, 3 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Dufferin 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).
Amaranth grades D for walkability
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Amaranth next to Canadian towns of 3,400 to 6,500: 305th of 728 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| 6 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| 7 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 303 | Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs Quebec | 4,080 | 81% | 6.6% | $94K | B |
| 304 | Auditorium Ontario | 3,918 | 73% | 11% | $83K | B |
| 305 | Amaranth Ontario | 4,808 | 78% | 9% | $128K | B |
| 306 | Malartic Quebec | 3,506 | 77% | 6.2% | $69K | B |
| 307 | Livingston Alberta | 3,929 | 75% | 12% | $118K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 728 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Amaranth, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How Amaranth compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amaranth | 78% | 9% | $128K | 38.8 min | B | D |
| Shelburne 10.4 km | 75% | 10% | $99K | 39.6 min | C+ | B+ |
| Orangeville 11.3 km | 75% | 11% | $104K | 33.2 min | C+ | A− |
| Mono 12.1 km | 78% | 10% | $140K | 35.7 min | B | C+ |
| Grand Valley 13.6 km | 80% | 7.8% | $101K | 41.6 min | B− | B |
| East Garafraxa 15.4 km | 81% | 8.7% | $134K | 37.1 min | B+ | C |
| Melancthon 19 km | 78% | 7.8% | $100K | 35 min | B− | C+ |
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 Amaranth, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. 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.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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 Amaranth
What is the average household income in Amaranth?
Amaranth’s middle household had $127,700 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Amaranth get to work?
97% of commuters go by car, 2.3% walk. On census day 22% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Amaranth?
On average 38.8 minutes; 22% take under 15 minutes and 25% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Amaranth work?
Only 12% work in Amaranth itself; the rest go first to Orangeville (345) and Brampton (180).
How many jobs are there in Amaranth?
About 470 people had their usual place of work in Amaranth at the 2021 census, 0.4 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 164 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Amaranth?
The 2021 census found 9% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie economic region, is 6.5% (October 2026).
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).