Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Belleville has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 83% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Belleville stood at 12% on census day 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The average trip to work from Belleville is 19.9 minutes; 4.1% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Median household income in Belleville was $73,500 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What sets Belleville apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
66% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 49%. In work ↓
A local job centre
22,010 people work in Belleville and 16,120 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 19.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.1% 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.
Jobs & income in Belleville: graded C+
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #449 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.
How many in Belleville have a job: 66% of 15-to-64s
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Hastings census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 56% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 49% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 57% in work in October 2026. 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.
Each working day, Belleville’s workforce swells by 30%
16,120 residents of Belleville had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 22,010 people had theirs in Belleville, wherever they lived.
Each resident commuting out of Belleville is matched by about 2 coming in. Of those who commute, 74% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Belleville
Timed exactly, the average is 18.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 49%, more 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
10,113 people come into Belleville to work, most from Quinte West and Picton
- Quinte West3,995
- Picton1,330
- Tyendinaga775
- Centre Hastings565
- Stirling460
- Tweed450
- Greater Napanee395
- Brighton295
- Campbellford195
- Kingston190
- Quinte West1,815
- Picton545
- Greater Napanee335
- Kingston260
- Stirling140
- Toronto110
- Campbellford105
- Tyendinaga85
- Loyalist60
- Deseronto60
Of everyone working in Belleville, 46% come in from elsewhere; 3,995 make the 16 km trip from Quinte West. The main destination the other way is Quinte West, with 1,815.
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 Belleville work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Earnings at home in Belleville: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Belleville’s median is 20% below. 4 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Hastings census division 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 9.7% of Belleville’s commuters
Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of Ontario’s towns, at 89%. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 3.3% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Ontario’s towns has 3.2% walking; here, 5.7% do.
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.
EI claims in the Hastings census division run 26% above their 2019 level
The highest month was April 2021: 7,740 people, 2.9 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.2 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Hastings 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).
Walkability in Belleville: graded A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #404 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Belleville ranks: 40th of 60 Canadian towns of 44,000 to 84,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 81% | 6.2% | $93K | A |
| 2 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 77% | 9.1% | $118K | A |
| 3 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 73% | 12% | $103K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Brant Ontario | 45,565 | 78% | 8.8% | $107K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Lakeshore Ontario | 45,954 | 71% | 13% | $114K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Timmins Ontario | 45,569 | 71% | 8.6% | $82K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 38 | Aurora Ontario | 67,385 | 72% | 12% | $119K | C+ |
| 39 | Fleetwood British Columbia | 63,957 | 72% | 7.9% | $109K | C+ |
| 40 | Belleville Ontario | 62,914 | 66% | 12% | $74K | C+ |
| 41 | Haldimand County Ontario | 56,059 | 74% | 8.3% | $92K | C+ |
| 42 | Bradford West Gwillimbury Ontario | 51,346 | 73% | 11% | $114K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 60 | Port-Maurice Quebec | 45,720 | 69% | 12% | $69K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Belleville, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around Belleville
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleville | 66% | 12% | $74K | 19.9 min | C+ | A |
| Quinte West 15.6 km | 69% | 11% | $81K | 22.1 min | C+ | B− |
| Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory 17.8 km | 57% | 9% | $58K | 24.2 min | D | 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 Belleville, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
- 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 Belleville
Where do people in Belleville work?
74% work in Belleville itself; of those who leave, the most go to Quinte West (1,815), then Picton (545).
How many jobs are there in Belleville?
About 22,010 people had their usual place of work in Belleville at the 2021 census, 1.4 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 1,878 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Belleville?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 12% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Belleville - Quinte West metro area at 6.7% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Belleville?
At $73,500 before tax in 2020, the median household in Belleville compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Belleville get to work?
89% of commuters go by car, 3.3% take public transit, 5.7% walk and 0.7% cycle. On census day 16% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Belleville?
On average 19.9 minutes; 49% take under 15 minutes and 4.1% take an hour or longer.
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).