Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Carleton Place earn more than those in 73% of Canadian towns
Of everyone in Carleton Place working or looking for work in May 2021, 7.8% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The 2021 census found 78% of working-age people in Carleton Place employed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. An hour or more each way is the commute for 3.7% of workers in Carleton Place; the average is 26 minutes.
The work figures that set Carleton Place apart
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 78% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 60%. In work ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 3,770 jobs based in Carleton Place and 3,460 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.
On jobs and income, Carleton Place grades B+
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #183 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.
Workers pour into Carleton Place: 6% more on a working day
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.
2,344 people come into Carleton Place to work, most from Beckwith and Ottawa
62% of the people who work in Carleton Place live outside it, 670 of them in Beckwith, 4 km away. Going the other way, Ottawa is the biggest single destination (1,515).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Carleton Place has a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lanark census division, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 60%. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 61% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 65% of residents that age. 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.
Median household income in Carleton Place: $89,100 in 2020
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Lanark census division, 5 have a higher median. Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Carleton Place sits 3% below. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
Without a car, 9.4% of Carleton Place’s commuters get to work
On foot: 7.7% of commuters, well above the 3.2% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of Ontario’s towns, at 88%. Home was the workplace for 28%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Few ride transit: 0.8%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Carleton Place average 26 minutes
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 36%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 23.5 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.
In the Lanark census division, 20% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%. In February 2021 it reached 3,450, the most in the series and 2.6 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 4.1 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Lanark 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).
Getting around Carleton Place on foot earns A
Better than 91% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #377 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 10,400 to 20,000, Carleton Place ranks 167th of 561 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 8 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 165 | Lakewood Saskatchewan | 14,880 | 75% | 9.7% | $79K | B+ |
| 166 | Pincourt Quebec | 15,220 | 80% | 8.1% | $95K | B+ |
| 167 | Carleton Place Ontario | 14,837 | 78% | 7.8% | $89K | B+ |
| 168 | Rideaucrest - Davidson Heights Ontario | 13,998 | 73% | 9.3% | $139K | B+ |
| 169 | St. Andrews Manitoba | 12,021 | 78% | 6.2% | $107K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 561 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Carleton Place, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Next to Carleton Place: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carleton Place | 78% | 7.8% | $89K | 26 min | B+ | A |
| Beckwith 3.5 km | 79% | 6.4% | $126K | 30 min | B+ | D |
| Almonte 11.4 km | 79% | 7.6% | $100K | 29.4 min | B+ | B |
| Corkery 15.1 km | 83% | 4.7% | $158K | 29.5 min | A | D |
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 Carleton Place, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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 Carleton Place
How many jobs are there in Carleton Place?
The 2021 census found about 3,770 people with their usual workplace in Carleton Place, or 1.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 380 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Carleton Place?
Two figures answer it: 7.8% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.3% for the Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario part metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Carleton Place?
Before tax, half the households in Carleton Place had more than $89,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Carleton Place get to work?
88% of commuters drive, 0.8% take public transit, 7.7% walk and 0.9% cycle; 28% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Carleton Place?
The average commute is 26 minutes; 36% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.7% an hour or more.
Where do people in Carleton Place work?
41% work in Carleton Place itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Ottawa (1,515), then Almonte (230).
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).