Photo: Canmenwalker · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Burlington are higher than in 93% of Canadian towns
76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Burlington had a job at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Home was the workplace for 37% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. For 7.5% of commuters in Burlington, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 26.6 minutes.
What stands out about work in Burlington
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $110,300 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
55,695 people work in Burlington and 48,425 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 37% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting 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 Burlington: B+
Better than 71% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #141 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.
Before tax, the median household in Burlington had $110,300
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Halton census division has a higher median. Burlington’s median is 20% above the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Burlington fills up on a working day: 9% more workers
51% 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.
Burlington gets to work without a car for 8.8% of commuters
By bus, train or subway: 4.3%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. By car, truck or van: 89% of commuters, against 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
31,240 people come into Burlington to work, most from Hamilton and Oakville
- Hamilton17,420
- Oakville3,535
- Mississauga1,735
- Milton1,260
- Toronto940
- Brampton655
- Grimsby640
- St. Catharines595
- Brantford540
- Caledonia470
Of everyone working in Burlington, 56% come in from elsewhere; 17,420 make the 15 km trip from Hamilton. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Oakville (6,590).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Burlington
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halton census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 65%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 58% of residents 15 and over were in work. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 61% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Commuting times in Burlington
Timed exactly, the average is 23.7 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 33% of commuters, against 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.
In the Halton census division, 42% more people receive EI than in 2019
That is about 3.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. The highest month was April 2021: 26,830 people, 3.4 times the 2019 level.
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). Burlington doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Halton census division.
The walkability of Burlington: A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #402 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Burlington next to Canadian towns of 138,400 to 266,900: 3rd of 23 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| 3 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 76% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| 4 | Langley British Columbia | 163,885 | 78% | 6.2% | $108K | B+ |
| 5 | Saguenay Quebec | 151,972 | 78% | 5.5% | $69K | B+ |
| 6 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| 9 | Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury Ontario | 188,504 | 71% | 10% | $84K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 64% | 15% | $86K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Burlington, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs near Burlington: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | 76% | 11% | $110K | 26.6 min | B+ | A |
| Waterdown 7.9 km | 79% | 8.8% | $136K | 29.6 min | A− | B |
| North End East 11.1 km | 62% | 16% | $73K | 29.8 min | D | A+ |
| Industrial Sector A and Keith 11.4 km | 59% | 16% | $68K | 28 min | D | A+ |
| Beasley 12 km | 49% | 17% | $47K | 29.7 min | D− | A+ |
| Central 12 km | 61% | 15% | $56K | 27.4 min | D− | A+ |
| Parkview West 12.1 km | 64% | 18% | $89K | 28.1 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 Burlington, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about work in Burlington
What is the unemployment rate in Burlington?
Two figures answer it: 11% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.6% for the Hamilton metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Burlington?
At $110,300 before tax in 2020, the median household in Burlington compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Burlington get to work?
89% of commuters drive, 4.3% take public transit, 3.8% walk and 0.7% cycle; 37% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Burlington?
The average commute is 26.6 minutes; 33% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.5% an hour or more.
Where do people in Burlington work?
51% work in Burlington itself; of those who leave, the most go to Oakville (6,590), then Hamilton (5,265).
How many jobs are there in Burlington?
The 2021 census found about 55,695 people with their usual workplace in Burlington, or 1.2 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 7,676 businesses with employees in June 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).