Photo: Kitchener-Waterloo Record · Public domainCambridge has higher household incomes than 79% of Canadian towns
In Cambridge, 72% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Out of work in May 2021: 12% of Cambridge’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. For 7.6% of commuters in Cambridge, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 26.3 minutes.
The short version on work in Cambridge
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 72% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 58% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
A local job centre
With 51,935 jobs based in Cambridge and 44,105 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.
On jobs and income, Cambridge grades B−
Better than 46% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #339 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Cambridge fills up on a working day: 13% more workers
44,105 residents of Cambridge had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 51,935 people had theirs in Cambridge, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 56% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
27,192 people come into Cambridge to work, most from Kitchener and Waterloo
52% of the people who work in Cambridge live outside it, 10,550 of them in Kitchener, 15 km away. Outbound, Kitchener takes the most: 4,365 people.
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 Cambridge work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Who in Cambridge has a job
Of the 42 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Waterloo census division, 16 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 66%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 58%. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 65% in work in October 2026. 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.
What households earned in Cambridge: $92,900 in 2020
That puts Cambridge 1% above the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. 17 of the 42 other places of 2,500+ in the Waterloo census division have a higher median. 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 6.1% of Cambridge’s commuters
Transit takes 3.3% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters. 21% worked at home on census day, about the same as 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Commuting times in Cambridge
Timed exactly, the average is 23.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 32% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in the Waterloo census division run 47% above their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. At its peak, in April 2021, 28,950 people were on EI, 3 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.3 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 counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Cambridge doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Waterloo census division.
Cambridge grades A− for walkability
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #526 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 115,700 to 223,200, Cambridge ranks 16th of 28 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| 4 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 76% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury Ontario | 188,504 | 71% | 10% | $84K | B− |
| 15 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 68% | 13% | $79K | B− |
| 16 | Cambridge Ontario | 165,354 | 72% | 12% | $93K | B− |
| 17 | Sherbrooke Quebec | 184,135 | 77% | 6.1% | $63K | B− |
| 18 | Trois-Rivières Quebec | 149,934 | 75% | 6.6% | $61K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 64% | 15% | $86K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Cambridge, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs near Cambridge: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | 72% | 12% | $93K | 26.3 min | B− | A− |
| Pioneer Tower West 7.7 km | 76% | 9.9% | $169K | 27.1 min | B+ | B− |
| Doon South 9.6 km | 72% | 9.4% | $136K | 28.4 min | B− | B− |
| Pioneer Park 10.1 km | 74% | 10% | $81K | 26.3 min | C+ | A |
| Centreville Chicopee 10.6 km | 67% | 13% | $82K | 23.2 min | C+ | A |
| Grand River South 10.9 km | 77% | 9.1% | $132K | 24.1 min | A | B |
| Idlewood 11.6 km | 74% | 6.3% | $125K | 23.5 min | A− | 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 Cambridge, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Cambridge
How long is the commute from Cambridge?
The average commute is 26.3 minutes; 32% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.6% an hour or more.
Where do people in Cambridge work?
56% work in Cambridge itself; of those who leave, the most go to Kitchener (4,365), then Guelph (3,440).
How many jobs are there in Cambridge?
The 2021 census found about 51,935 people with their usual workplace in Cambridge, or 1.2 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 4,721 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Cambridge?
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 Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo metro area at 7.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Cambridge?
Before tax, half the households in Cambridge had more than $92,900 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Cambridge get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 3.3% take public transit, 2.4% walk and 0.4% cycle; 21% 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).