Photo: Canmenwalker · CC BY 4.0Bolton has higher household incomes than 99% of Canadian towns
For 11% of commuters in Bolton, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 34.7 minutes. In Bolton, 74% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Of everyone in Bolton working or looking for work in May 2021, 11% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Bolton and work: the main findings
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household had $133,400 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 34.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 11% 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 Bolton: C+
Better than 44% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #368 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.
$133,400 a year: the median household in Bolton
Of the 86 other places of 2,500 or more in the Peel census division, 14 have a higher median. Bolton’s median is 46% above the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
The length of the trip to work in Bolton
In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Only 18% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 31.2 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
In and out of Bolton: the working day evens out
21,680 residents of Bolton had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 21,110 people had theirs in Bolton, wherever they lived.
29% 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.
71% of Bolton’s residents in work leave it to work; Brampton takes the most
- Brampton6,030
- Toronto1,650
- Vaughan815
- Mississauga745
- Orangeville710
- Alliston705
- King315
- Richmond Hill295
- Georgetown290
- Adjala-Tosorontio275
- Brampton4,175
- Mississauga3,335
- Toronto3,160
- Vaughan2,170
- Orangeville430
- Georgetown270
- King180
- Oakville180
- Alliston170
- Richmond Hill125
Of those coming in, Brampton supplies the most: 6,030.
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 Bolton work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How many in Bolton were working in 2021
Of the 86 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Peel census division, 83 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 69% of residents that age. Counting retirees, 61% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
3% of commuters in Bolton walk, cycle or take transit
Home was the workplace for 28%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Few ride transit: 1.2%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters.
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.
In the Peel census division, 51% more people receive EI than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.2 are on EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. In April 2021 it reached 86,000, the most in the series and 3.7 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Peel 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).
Walking in Bolton earns C+
Better than 44% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #710 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Bolton is 30th among 46 Canadian towns of 63,100 to 121,800
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 77% | 9.1% | $118K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 73% | 12% | $103K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Halton Hills Ontario | 68,265 | 76% | 9.7% | $127K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 68% | 11% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 66% | 13% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Port Coquitlam British Columbia | 67,724 | 76% | 8.1% | $102K | B− |
| 29 | Clarington Ontario | 114,180 | 73% | 11% | $113K | B− |
| 30 | Caledon Ontario | 90,201 | 74% | 11% | $133K | C+ |
| 31 | Aurora Ontario | 67,385 | 72% | 12% | $119K | C+ |
| 32 | Newmarket Ontario | 95,763 | 71% | 12% | $110K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Bolton, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in and around Bolton
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | 74% | 11% | $133K | 34.7 min | C+ | C+ |
| Wildfield 7.7 km | 64% | 12% | $150K | 31.8 min | C | C |
| Mount Royal 8 km | 67% | 12% | $153K | 33.5 min | C | B |
| Castlemore Estates 9.3 km | 79% | 11% | $179K | 28.1 min | A− | D |
| Vales of Castlemore 10.2 km | 67% | 15% | $146K | 32.6 min | C | A− |
| Sandalwood East (mountainash) 10.4 km | 65% | 15% | $126K | 33.1 min | C | A |
| Countryside 10.5 km | 67% | 13% | $118K | 33.5 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 Bolton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Bolton as part of Caledon, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Bolton
How long is the commute from Bolton?
The average commute is 34.7 minutes; 18% of trips take under 15 minutes and 11% an hour or more.
Where do people in Bolton work?
Only 29% work in Bolton itself; the rest go first to Brampton (4,175) and Mississauga (3,335).
How many jobs are there in Bolton?
The 2021 census found about 21,110 people with their usual workplace in Bolton, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 4,320 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Bolton?
The census put unemployment at 11% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Toronto metro area at 7.1%.
What is the average household income in Bolton?
The census puts Bolton at $133,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Bolton get to work?
95% of commuters drive, 1.2% take public transit, 1.7% walk and 0.1% cycle; 28% 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).