Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Dutton has 0.5 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
When the 2021 census was taken, 9.3% of people in Dutton who wanted a job had none; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Half the households in Dutton had more than $89,400 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. For 7% of commuters in Dutton, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 30.8 minutes.
The work numbers behind Dutton
More people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 60% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 79%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 7% 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, Dutton grades B−
Better than 52% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #288 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.
Dutton at work: 79% of people aged 15 to 64
All 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Elgin census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
66% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 60%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 58% in October 2026. 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.
The length of the trip to work in Dutton
Timed exactly, the average is 27.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 27%, 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.
More of Dutton’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 27% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
73% of Dutton’s residents in work leave it to work; London takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is West Lorne, with 160.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Dutton earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 74% of Canadian towns.
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 or more in the Elgin census division, 3 have a higher median. That puts Dutton 2% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. 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).
Dutton gets to work without a car for 4.9% of commuters
Home was the workplace for 19%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
31% more people are on EI in the Elgin census division than in 2019
In February 2021 it reached 4,960, the most in the series and 2.7 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.7 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%.
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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Elgin census division, with Dutton one part of it.
The walkability of Dutton: B−
Better than 53% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #664 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 3,300 to 6,300, Dutton ranks 333rd of 716 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| 6 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 331 | Opportunity No. 17 Alberta | 3,592 | 58% | 18% | $89K | B− |
| 332 | Riverside Park - Mooneys Bay Ontario | 4,692 | 71% | 14% | $88K | B− |
| 333 | Dutton/Dunwich Ontario | 4,686 | 79% | 9.3% | $89K | B− |
| 334 | Saint-Ambroise Quebec | 4,262 | 79% | 4.3% | $75K | B− |
| 335 | Claresholm Alberta | 4,242 | 73% | 10% | $66K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 716 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Dutton, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How the places next to Dutton compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutton | 79% | 9.3% | $89K | 30.8 min | B− | B− |
| West Lorne 13.8 km | 73% | 9.4% | $75K | 30.6 min | C− | B |
| Southwold 17 km | 78% | 12% | $105K | 23.6 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 Dutton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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 Dutton as part of Dutton/Dunwich, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Dutton
How many jobs are there in Dutton?
About 685 people had their usual place of work in Dutton at the 2021 census, 0.5 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 129 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Dutton?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the London economic region at 7.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.3%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Dutton?
The census puts Dutton at $89,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Dutton get to work?
94% of commuters go by car, 4.3% walk and 0.6% cycle. On census day 19% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Dutton?
On average 30.8 minutes; 27% take under 15 minutes and 7% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Dutton work?
Only 27% work in Dutton itself; the rest go first to London (425) and West Lorne (140).
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).