Photo: The Silverliner · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Dundalk are higher than in 67% of Canadian towns
Most commutes from Dundalk take well under an hour: the average is 34.8 minutes, and 21% take 60 minutes or longer. 73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Dundalk had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. Dundalk had an unemployment rate of 7.8% at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Dundalk
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 73% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 59%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 34.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 21% 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.
Jobs & income in Dundalk: graded C−
Better than 25% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #608 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 long the commute from Dundalk takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 33.2 minutes. The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 25%, 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.
A commuter town: Dundalk sends out more workers than it takes in
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. Of those who commute, 20% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
80% of Dundalk’s residents in work leave it to work; Mount Forest takes the most
- Durham350
- Grey Highlands160
- Mount Forest100
- Hanover75
- Walkerton45
- Melancthon35
- Chatsworth25
- Ajax20
- Wellesley20
- Lindsay15
- Mount Forest440
- Grey Highlands195
- Shelburne185
- Orangeville175
- Alliston110
- Brampton105
- Toronto95
- Mississauga70
- Durham55
- Palmerston45
Durham sends the largest group the other way, 350 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Dundalk
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Grey census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 64%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 59%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 54% 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.
Median household income in Dundalk: $85,900 in 2020
2 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Grey census division have a higher median. Dundalk’s median is 6% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 5.5% of Dundalk’s commuters
Transit takes 0.3% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Grey census division run 32% above their 2019 level
Roughly 3.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. In February 2021 it reached 4,700, the most in the series and 3 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Grey census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Dundalk earns B for walkability
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #615 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 656 Canadian towns of 8,100 to 15,700, Dundalk comes 524th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 2 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 3 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 11 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 522 | Rundle Alberta | 10,549 | 62% | 17% | $87K | C− |
| 523 | Arbutus Ridge British Columbia | 15,083 | 64% | 9.6% | $89K | C− |
| 524 | Southgate Ontario | 11,599 | 73% | 7.8% | $86K | C− |
| 525 | Sainte-Adèle Quebec | 15,216 | 78% | 9% | $69K | C− |
| 526 | Cabbagetown-South St.James Town Ontario | 11,205 | 73% | 13% | $78K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 656 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Dundalk, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Around Dundalk: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk | 73% | 7.8% | $86K | 34.8 min | C− | B |
| Melancthon 17 km | 78% | 7.8% | $100K | 35 min | B− | C+ |
| Grey Highlands 17.5 km | 78% | 7.4% | $85K | 32.9 min | C+ | B |
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 Dundalk, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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. 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Dundalk as part of Southgate, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Dundalk
How many jobs are there in Dundalk?
The 2021 census counted about 1,470 people working in Dundalk: 0.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 309 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Dundalk?
Two figures answer it: 7.8% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.8% for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Dundalk?
At $85,900 before tax in 2020, the median household in Dundalk compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Dundalk get to work?
By car: 92% of commuters, 0.3% take public transit, 4% walk and 1.2% cycle; on census day 24% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Dundalk?
34.8 minutes is the average trip, with 25% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 21% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Dundalk work?
Only 20% work in Dundalk itself; the rest go first to Mount Forest (440) and Grey Highlands (195).
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).