Photo: Peter Giesbrecht · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer of Aylmer’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 65% of Canadian towns
Aylmer had an unemployment rate of 9.8% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. 2,950 people have their usual place of work in Aylmer, against 2,460 residents who travel to a job. Before tax, the typical household in Aylmer brought in $73,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What the numbers say about work in Aylmer
Work near the middle
With 72% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 55% of all adults employed. In work ↓
A local job centre
With 2,950 jobs based in Aylmer and 2,460 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Aylmer earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #462 of 866 in Ontario.
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.
A working day adds 18% to the people at work in Aylmer
Of those who commute, 41% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
1,932 people come into Aylmer to work, most from Malahide and St. Thomas
- Malahide855
- St. Thomas240
- Bayham220
- London170
- Central Elgin125
- Simcoe110
- Tillsonburg80
- Dorchester35
- Southwold20
- South-West Oxford15
- London365
- St. Thomas305
- Malahide205
- Tillsonburg175
- Central Elgin70
- Woodstock60
- Bayham60
- Simcoe45
- Ingersoll25
- Southwold25
London is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 365 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Aylmer at work: 72% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Elgin census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 60% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 55%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 58% 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.
Earnings at home in Aylmer: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Aylmer’s median is 19% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Elgin census division has a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 6.1% of commuters in Aylmer
The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 10% against 21%. Transit takes 0.3% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Aylmer has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 23.5 minutes
In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 41%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 4.5% take an hour or more, against 7.9%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.8 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.
In the Elgin census division, 31% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 5%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 4,960 people, 2.7 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.7 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Elgin census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
The walkability of Aylmer: A−
Better than 80% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #495 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Aylmer is 463rd of 673 Canadian towns of 5,900 to 11,300 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | West Perth Ontario | 10,080 | 88% | 5% | $92K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 461 | Crowsnest Pass Alberta | 6,011 | 72% | 8.6% | $80K | C+ |
| 462 | Cachet Ontario | 6,361 | 67% | 11% | $145K | C+ |
| 463 | Aylmer Ontario | 8,371 | 72% | 9.8% | $74K | C+ |
| 464 | Upper Cornell Ontario | 8,304 | 71% | 12% | $130K | C+ |
| 465 | Northeast Saskatchewan | 9,670 | 68% | 13% | $65K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 673 | Beasley Ontario | 6,338 | 49% | 17% | $47K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Aylmer, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Around Aylmer: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aylmer | 72% | 9.8% | $74K | 23.5 min | C+ | A− |
| Malahide 1.7 km | 78% | 7.7% | $95K | 26.1 min | B+ | C− |
| Central Elgin 13.5 km | 77% | 9.4% | $103K | 24.9 min | A− | C− |
| Bayham 14.3 km | 68% | 11% | $82K | 31 min | C− | C |
| St. Thomas 15.3 km | 69% | 11% | $75K | 20.9 min | C+ | 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 Aylmer, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Aylmer
What is the unemployment rate in Aylmer?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the London economic region at 7.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.8%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Aylmer?
Before tax, half the households in Aylmer had more than $73,800 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Aylmer get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 0.3% take public transit, 5.1% walk and 0.7% cycle; on census day 10% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Aylmer?
23.5 minutes is the average trip, with 41% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 4.5% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Aylmer work?
41% work in Aylmer itself. Of those who leave, the most go to London (365), then St. Thomas (305).
How many jobs are there in Aylmer?
The 2021 census counted about 2,950 people working in Aylmer: 1.2 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 273 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).