Photo: Dillan Payne · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.5 jobs for each resident in work, most of Colborne commutes out
Colborne had an unemployment rate of 7.9% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The average trip to work from Colborne is 31.6 minutes; 15% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Median household income in Colborne was $87,200 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Colborne
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 74% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 54%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 31.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 15% 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.
On jobs and income, Colborne grades C
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #528 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.
The length of the trip to work in Colborne
Only 24% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 30.3 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.
More of Colborne’s workers leave each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 3 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 23% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
77% of Colborne’s residents in work leave it to work; Cobourg takes the most
- Cobourg385
- Brighton220
- Quinte West155
- Port Hope120
- Bowmanville100
- Toronto80
- Alnwick/Haldimand70
- Oshawa60
- Belleville55
- Campbellford55
Inbound, the leader is Brighton (130).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Colborne, 74% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Northumberland census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 54% of residents 15 and over were in work. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 53% in October 2026. Working or looking, 59% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
Household income in Colborne
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 70% of Canadian towns.
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 or more in the Northumberland census division, 3 have a higher median. That puts Colborne 5% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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).
Walking, cycling or transit: 5.1% of Colborne’s commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. 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).
EI claims in the Northumberland census division run 29% above their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. April 2021 was the busiest month, with 4,180 people on EI, 2.8 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.2 receive EI.
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 Northumberland 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).
Everyday places on foot in Colborne: B−
Better than 55% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #653 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 5,100 to 9,700, Colborne ranks 513th of 686 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 511 | La Broquerie Manitoba | 7,808 | 74% | 5.8% | $84K | C |
| 512 | Cooksville NHD (East) Ontario | 9,313 | 69% | 12% | $97K | C |
| 513 | Cramahe Ontario | 7,216 | 74% | 7.9% | $87K | C |
| 514 | Whitewater Region Ontario | 7,899 | 74% | 7.8% | $81K | C |
| 515 | Ste. Anne Manitoba | 6,387 | 76% | 7.1% | $84K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 686 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Colborne, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How Colborne compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colborne | 74% | 7.9% | $87K | 31.6 min | C | B− |
| Brighton 11.6 km | 64% | 10% | $81K | 29.2 min | C− | C |
| Alnwick/Haldimand 15.7 km | 75% | 12% | $103K | 33.3 min | C+ | 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 Colborne, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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.
- 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 Colborne as part of Cramahe, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Colborne
How do people in Colborne get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 4.7% walk and 0.4% cycle; 15% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Colborne?
The average commute is 31.6 minutes; 24% of trips take under 15 minutes and 15% an hour or more.
Where do people in Colborne work?
Only 23% work in Colborne itself; the rest go first to Cobourg (385) and Brighton (220).
How many jobs are there in Colborne?
The 2021 census found about 1,085 people with their usual workplace in Colborne, or 0.5 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 168 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Colborne?
The census put unemployment at 7.9% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Muskoka-Kawarthas economic region at 5.1%.
What is the average household income in Colborne?
Colborne’s middle household had $87,200 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).