Photo: Tudor Costache · CC BY-SA 3.0Central Elgin’s household incomes are higher than in 88% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 9.4% of Central Elgin’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Jobs located in Central Elgin: 2,615, for 4,175 residents with a usual workplace. Central Elgin counted 77% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
What sets Central Elgin apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
77% 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 57%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
At $102,900 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs and income in Central Elgin earn A−
Better than 81% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #87 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.
Half the households in Central Elgin had more than $102,900 in 2020
One of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Elgin census division has a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Central Elgin’s median is 12% above. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
More of Central Elgin’s workers leave each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. Of those who commute, 14% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
86% of Central Elgin’s residents in work leave it to work; St. Thomas takes the most
- St. Thomas620
- Woodstock345
- London310
- Malahide105
- Tillsonburg95
- Southwold85
- Aylmer70
- South-West Oxford40
- Dutton35
- Simcoe30
- St. Thomas1,500
- London1,455
- Aylmer125
- Malahide70
- Woodstock65
- Southwold60
- Dorchester55
- Ingersoll40
- Tillsonburg25
- Dutton25
St. Thomas sends the largest group the other way, 620 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Central Elgin has a job
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Elgin census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 57% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 63% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 57%. 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.
2.4% of commuters from Central Elgin go without a car
23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.3%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 96% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 24.9 minutes from Central Elgin
Within a quarter-hour: 31% of commuters, much as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 4% take an hour or more, against 7.9%. Timed exactly, the average is 22.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes.
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.
31% more people are on EI in the Elgin census division than in 2019
The count topped out in February 2021 at 4,960 people, 2.7 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.7 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 5%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Elgin 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).
The Walkability grade for Central Elgin: C−
Better than 22% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #805 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Central Elgin ranks: 86th of 553 Canadian towns of 10,700 to 20,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 84 | Lake Country British Columbia | 17,637 | 78% | 7.5% | $98K | A− |
| 85 | South Windsor Ontario | 15,896 | 65% | 15% | $106K | A− |
| 86 | Central Elgin Ontario | 15,230 | 77% | 9.4% | $103K | A− |
| 87 | River Park South Manitoba | 12,304 | 78% | 6% | $111K | A− |
| 88 | Albert Park Saskatchewan | 12,967 | 76% | 11% | $83K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 553 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Central Elgin, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around Central Elgin
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elgin | 77% | 9.4% | $103K | 24.9 min | A− | C− |
| St. Thomas 2 km | 69% | 11% | $75K | 20.9 min | C+ | B+ |
| Aylmer 13.5 km | 72% | 9.8% | $74K | 23.5 min | C+ | A− |
| Southwold 14.1 km | 78% | 12% | $105K | 23.6 min | A | C− |
| Malahide 14.7 km | 78% | 7.7% | $95K | 26.1 min | B+ | 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 Central Elgin, 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Central Elgin
How long is the commute from Central Elgin?
On average 24.9 minutes; 31% take under 15 minutes and 4% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Central Elgin work?
14% work in Central Elgin itself. Of those who leave, the most go to St. Thomas (1,500), then London (1,455).
How many jobs are there in Central Elgin?
About 2,615 people had their usual place of work in Central Elgin at the 2021 census, 0.6 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 389 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Central Elgin?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the London metro area at 8.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.4%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Central Elgin?
The median household in Central Elgin had $102,900 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Central Elgin get to work?
96% of commuters go by car, 0.3% take public transit and 2.1% walk. On census day 23% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).