Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Central Frontenac than in 93% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Central Frontenac had more than $70,200 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. For 22% of commuters in Central Frontenac, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 39.5 minutes. The 2021 census put unemployment in Central Frontenac at 12%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Central Frontenac at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
60% 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 41%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $70,200 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 39.5 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 22% last an hour or longer. 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 Central Frontenac: D−
Better than 3% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #842 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.
How many in Central Frontenac have a job: 60% of 15-to-64s
None of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Frontenac census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 46% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 41% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 55% in work in October 2026. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Household income in Central Frontenac
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 66% of Canadian towns.
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 or more in the Frontenac census division, 2 have a higher median. Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Central Frontenac sits 23% below. 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).
The length of the trip to work in Central Frontenac
Timed exactly, the average is 37.1 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 23%, fewer than the 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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Central Frontenac
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 3 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 31% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
69% of Central Frontenac’s residents in work leave it to work; Kingston takes the most
Coming the other way, Tay Valley sends the most (45).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Leaving the car at home: 3.7% of commuters in Central Frontenac
Few ride transit: 1.1%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. 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).
In the Frontenac census division, 15% more people receive EI than in 2019
The count topped out in April 2021 at 7,710 people, 3 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Frontenac 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).
Getting around Central Frontenac on foot earns C−
Better than 18% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #820 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Canadian towns of 3,700 to 7,200, and where Central Frontenac sits
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Neepawa Manitoba | 6,328 | 85% | 2.9% | $84K | A+ |
| 4 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| 5 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| 6 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 702 | Central Park Manitoba | 4,328 | 56% | 16% | $37K | D− |
| 703 | Centennial Manitoba | 4,483 | 45% | 14% | $40K | D− |
| 704 | Central Frontenac Ontario | 5,348 | 60% | 12% | $70K | D− |
| 705 | Highlands East Ontario | 4,372 | 54% | 15% | $63K | D− |
| 706 | Mcquesten West Ontario | 6,349 | 57% | 18% | $58K | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 713 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Central Frontenac, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The places around Central Frontenac, side by side
No closer places have figures: these lie 27–38 km from Central Frontenac.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Frontenac | 60% | 12% | $70K | 39.5 min | D− | C− |
| North Frontenac 26.8 km | 65% | 11% | $69K | 32.9 min | D− | C+ |
| Tay Valley 31.2 km | 70% | 11% | $90K | 29 min | C | C− |
| Addington Highlands 33.8 km | 54% | 15% | $57K | 31.2 min | D− | C+ |
| South Frontenac 37.3 km | 76% | 9% | $104K | 30.1 min | B | C− |
| Stone Mills 38.1 km | 76% | 7.9% | $91K | 32.6 min | C+ | 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 Frontenac, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Central Frontenac
What is the unemployment rate in Central Frontenac?
At the 2021 census 12% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Kingston-Pembroke economic region, gives 6.8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Central Frontenac?
Before tax, half the households in Central Frontenac had more than $70,200 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Central Frontenac get to work?
94% of commuters go by car, 1.1% take public transit and 2.6% walk. On census day 21% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Central Frontenac?
On average 39.5 minutes; 23% take under 15 minutes and 22% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Central Frontenac work?
31% work in Central Frontenac itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Kingston (310), then Perth (95).
How many jobs are there in Central Frontenac?
About 560 people had their usual place of work in Central Frontenac at the 2021 census, 0.6 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 103 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).