Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Dryden has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 67% of Canadian towns
The average trip to work from Dryden is 15.2 minutes; 7% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Half the households in Dryden had more than $81,700 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Census day 2021 found 8.3% of Dryden’s labour force without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Work in Dryden, in a few figures
A local job centre
With 3,735 jobs based in Dryden and 2,530 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 15.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7% 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.
Dryden grades B+ for jobs and income
Better than 73% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #128 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.
Every working day, Dryden’s workforce grows by 43%
2,530 residents of Dryden had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 3,735 people had theirs in Dryden, wherever they lived.
Dryden takes in some 5 workers for every resident it sends out. 89% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Dryden
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 76% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 14.6 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
1,476 people come into Dryden to work, most from Kenora, Unorganized and Machin
- Kenora, Unorganized1,215
- Machin140
- Sioux Lookout25
- Kenora15
- Red Lake15
- Thunder Bay10
- Eagle Lake 2710
- Kenora, Unorganized90
- Sioux Lookout40
- Ear Falls30
- Red Lake20
- Thunder Bay15
- Kenora10
- Machin10
- Fort McMurray10
40% of the people who work in Dryden live outside it, 1,215 of them in Kenora, Unorganized, 35 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Kenora, Unorganized (90).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Dryden work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Dryden: 72%
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Kenora census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 53% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 59% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 58% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
What households in Dryden earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 60% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Dryden sits 11% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Kenora census division has a higher median. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 9% of Dryden’s commuters
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 8.5% of commuters, well above the 3.2% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Driving takes 89% of commuters to work; the middle of Ontario’s towns has 88%. Home was the workplace for 9.2%, under the 21% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
11% fewer people are on EI in the Kenora census division than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 2%. At its peak, in August 2021, 3,210 people were on EI, 1.8 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 3.8 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. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Kenora 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).
Dryden grades A− for walkability
Better than 80% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #496 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Dryden ranks: 177th of 682 Canadian towns of 5,500 to 10,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | New Edinburgh Ontario | 5,728 | 79% | 7.4% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 175 | Cougar Ridge Alberta | 7,101 | 77% | 9.6% | $158K | B+ |
| 176 | North Middlesex Ontario | 6,864 | 84% | 6.7% | $89K | B+ |
| 177 | Dryden Ontario | 7,808 | 72% | 8.3% | $82K | B+ |
| 178 | Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley British Columbia | 7,830 | 74% | 9.4% | $89K | B+ |
| 179 | L'Ange-Gardien Quebec | 7,068 | 79% | 5.8% | $119K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 682 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Dryden, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How the places next to Dryden compare on work
Distances here run 25–73 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Dryden.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dryden | 72% | 8.3% | $82K | 15.2 min | B+ | A− |
| Machin 25.2 km | 62% | 14% | $73K | 27.8 min | D | C+ |
| Kenora, Unorganized 35.4 km | 74% | 9.4% | $87K | 23.5 min | B | D |
| Lac Seul 28 57.9 km | 49% | 12% | $46K | 20.6 min | D | B− |
| Sioux Lookout 72.7 km | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | 13 min | A+ | A− |
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 Dryden, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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.
- 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. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment 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. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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 Dryden
How long is the commute from Dryden?
The average commute is 15.2 minutes; 76% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7% an hour or more.
Where do people in Dryden work?
Most stay: 89% work in Dryden. The rest go first to Kenora, Unorganized (90) and Sioux Lookout (40).
How many jobs are there in Dryden?
The 2021 census found about 3,735 people with their usual workplace in Dryden, or 1.5 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 341 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Dryden?
At the 2021 census 8.3% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Northwest economic region, gives 2.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Dryden?
The census puts Dryden at $81,700 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Dryden get to work?
89% of commuters drive, 8.5% walk and 0.5% cycle; 9.2% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).