Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Athens has 0.6 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
Unemployment in Athens stood at 13% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Getting to work from Athens takes 31 minutes on average, an hour or more for 8.7%. Median household income in Athens was $84,700 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Athens stands out on work
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 8%. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 31 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 8.7% last an hour or longer. 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.
Athens grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 22% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #635 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Athens: 70%
Of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Leeds and Grenville census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 60% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 52%: many residents are past working age. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Longer than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Athens average 31 minutes
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 21%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 27.9 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.
A commuter town: Athens sends out more workers than it takes in
875 residents of Athens had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 480 people had theirs in Athens, wherever they lived.
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. 24% 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.
76% of Athens’ residents in work leave it to work; Brockville takes the most
Of those coming in, Rideau Lakes supplies the most: 70.
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 Athens work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Athens
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 65% of Canadian towns.
6 of the 11 other places of 2,500+ in the Leeds and Grenville census division have a higher median. Athens’ median is 8% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
3.7% of commuters from Athens go without a car
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 16% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 95% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
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.
20% more people are on EI in the Leeds and Grenville census division than in 2019
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 5,400 people on EI, 2.7 times 2019’s 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 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 Leeds and Grenville census division, with Athens one part of it.
The walkability of Athens: C+
Better than 39% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #739 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Athens is 499th of 639 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Merivale Gardens - Grenfell Glen - Pineglen - Country Place Ontario | 4,172 | 79% | 7.6% | $141K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | Clearwater British Columbia | 2,500 | 61% | 15% | $67K | C− |
| 498 | Berwick Nova Scotia | 2,631 | 64% | 11% | $61K | C− |
| 499 | Athens Ontario | 3,078 | 70% | 13% | $85K | C− |
| 500 | Lee Ridge Alberta | 2,722 | 67% | 18% | $78K | C− |
| 501 | Forty Mile County No. 8 Alberta | 3,927 | 61% | 4.2% | $90K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | 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 Athens, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Athens and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 70% | 13% | $85K | 31 min | C− | C+ |
| Elizabethtown-Kitley 9.7 km | 78% | 8.3% | $92K | 25.1 min | A− | C− |
| Front of Yonge 15.1 km | 73% | 8.8% | $85K | 30.9 min | C | D |
| Rideau Lakes 17.9 km | 73% | 9% | $84K | 31.3 min | C | 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 Athens, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Athens
How do people in Athens get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters, 3.7% walk; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Athens?
31 minutes is the average trip, with 21% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.7% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Athens work?
24% work in Athens itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Brockville (345), then Elizabethtown-Kitley (70).
How many jobs are there in Athens?
In June 2026, 78 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Athens?
At the 2021 census 13% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Ottawa economic region, gives 8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Athens?
Before tax, half the households in Athens had more than $84,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).