Photo: Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC BY 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Chatham trails that of 74% of Canadian towns
In 2020, a household at the middle of Chatham had $71,900 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Getting to work from Chatham takes 21.5 minutes on average, an hour or more for 5.2%. When the 2021 census was taken, 11% of people in Chatham who wanted a job had none, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Chatham and work: the main findings
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $71,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.5 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 5.2% take an hour or more. 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 Chatham: C+
Better than 36% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #470 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
Earnings at home in Chatham: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 61% of Canadian towns.
Chatham’s median is 22% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
How long the commute from Chatham takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.3 minutes. In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 49%, more 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 workers leave Chatham each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 82% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
18% of Chatham’s residents in work leave it to work; Leamington takes the most
- Lakeshore815
- Corunna520
- Leamington375
- Windsor350
- Dawn-Euphemia170
- Sarnia165
- London160
- Kingsville95
- West Lorne90
- LaSalle60
- Leamington1,340
- Windsor615
- Sarnia565
- Lakeshore425
- London355
- Corunna350
- Southwold275
- Petrolia195
- Kingsville190
- West Lorne145
Coming the other way, Lakeshore sends the most (815).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Chatham: 69%
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 57% 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 51%. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 5.4% of Chatham’s commuters
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 16% against 21%. Transit takes 0.4% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Chatham-Kent census division, 28% more people receive EI than in 2019
The highest month was February 2021: 5,670 people, 2.8 times the 2019 level. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.4 are on EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%.
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 Chatham-Kent 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 Chatham: B+
Better than 71% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #557 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Chatham is 32nd of 43 Canadian towns of 78,900 to 152,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 77% | 9.1% | $124K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 68% | 11% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 66% | 13% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Newmarket Ontario | 95,763 | 71% | 12% | $110K | C+ |
| 31 | Brossard Quebec | 97,597 | 74% | 9.5% | $84K | C+ |
| 32 | Chatham-Kent Ontario | 112,716 | 69% | 11% | $72K | C+ |
| 33 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 77% | 8.3% | $82K | C+ |
| 34 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 71% | 13% | $119K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 43 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Chatham, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The places around Chatham, side by side
The nearest places to Chatham with figures are 34–50 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham | 69% | 11% | $72K | 21.5 min | C+ | B+ |
| Dawn-Euphemia 34.3 km | 80% | 7.8% | $82K | 30.5 min | B− | D |
| Lakeshore 45.9 km | 71% | 13% | $114K | 24.4 min | B+ | C |
| Enniskillen 49.7 km | 82% | 5.2% | $105K | 23.5 min | A+ | 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 Chatham, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Chatham as part of Chatham-Kent, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Chatham
What is the unemployment rate in Chatham?
The census put unemployment at 11% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Windsor-Sarnia economic region at 7.9%.
What is the average household income in Chatham?
Chatham’s middle household had $71,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Chatham get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 0.4% take public transit, 4.2% walk and 0.8% cycle; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Chatham?
21.5 minutes is the average trip, with 49% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.2% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Chatham work?
82% work in Chatham itself; of those who leave, the most go to Leamington (1,340), then Windsor (615).
How many jobs are there in Chatham?
The 2021 census counted about 29,100 people working in Chatham: 0.9 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 3,264 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).