Photo: Tabercil · CC BY 3.0Most of Durham works elsewhere: the town has 0.3 jobs for each resident in work
Commutes from Durham average 30.2 minutes, and 14% take an hour or more. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 7.8% of Durham’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. In 2020, a household at the middle of Durham had $77,600 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
The work figures that set Durham apart
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 78% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 55%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 14% 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.
Durham earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #453 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Time on the road to work from Durham
Trips under 15 minutes: 30%, close to the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 28.7 minutes. 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.
On a working day, Durham loses more workers than it gains
It sends out some 8 workers for every one it takes in.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
86% of Durham’s residents in work leave it to work; Hanover takes the most
- Hanover925
- Mount Forest365
- Dundalk350
- Walkerton280
- Grey Highlands270
- Palmerston135
- Kincardine120
- Chesley120
- Owen Sound115
- Toronto55
Hanover sends the largest group the other way, 80 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
78% of working-age people in Durham have jobs
All 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Grey census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 55% of residents 15 and over were in work. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 54% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 60%. 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.
How Durham’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 51% of Canadian towns.
That puts Durham 15% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Grey census division, 6 have a higher median. 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).
4% of commuters in Durham walk, cycle or take transit
The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 19% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
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
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.6 are on EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 4,700 people on EI, 3 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Grey census division as a whole, not for Durham alone.
Everyday places on foot in Durham: C
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #761 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
330th of 571: where Durham ranks among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 19,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 8 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 328 | Saint-Hippolyte Quebec | 12,550 | 78% | 7.2% | $84K | C+ |
| 329 | Medway Ontario | 18,922 | 64% | 14% | $87K | C+ |
| 330 | West Grey Ontario | 14,355 | 78% | 7.8% | $78K | C+ |
| 331 | Humewood-Cedarvale Ontario | 13,978 | 77% | 11% | $85K | C+ |
| 332 | Ocean Park British Columbia | 10,845 | 68% | 7.8% | $117K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 571 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Durham, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around Durham
No closer places have figures: these lie 15–29 km from Durham.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | 78% | 7.8% | $78K | 30.2 min | C+ | C |
| Hanover 14.7 km | 73% | 9.5% | $69K | 21.4 min | C+ | A |
| Chatsworth 24.1 km | 74% | 8.2% | $81K | 29.7 min | C | C− |
| Walkerton 24.3 km | 79% | 6.4% | $83K | 23 min | A− | C+ |
| Dundalk 27 km | 73% | 7.8% | $86K | 34.8 min | C− | B |
| Mildmay 29.3 km | 82% | 6.1% | $88K | 26.3 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 Durham, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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. 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.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- 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.
- 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 Durham as part of West Grey, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Durham
How long is the commute from Durham?
30.2 minutes is the average trip, with 30% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 14% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Durham work?
Only 14% work in Durham itself; the rest go first to Hanover (925) and Mount Forest (365).
How many jobs are there in Durham?
Statistics Canada counted 360 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Durham?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region at 3.8%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7.8%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Durham?
The median household in Durham had $77,600 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Durham get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters, 3.5% walk and 0.5% cycle; on census day 19% of those in work worked from home.
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).