Photo: Deconstructhis · Public domainMore of Exeter’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 72% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Exeter reached 7.9%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Before tax, the typical household in Exeter brought in $77,200 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. For 6.1% of commuters in Exeter, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 23.2 minutes.
Exeter at work: what stands out
More people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 54% 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 ↓
A local job centre
With 3,640 jobs based in Exeter and 3,130 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs and income in Exeter earn B+
Better than 69% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #156 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, household income.
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.
In Exeter, 79% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Huron census division, one has 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 54% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 58%. 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.
Exeter fills up on a working day: 13% more workers
3,130 residents of Exeter had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 3,640 people had theirs in Exeter, wherever they lived.
54% 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.
1,937 people come into Exeter to work, most from Bayfield and London
53% of the people who work in Exeter live outside it, 555 of them in Bayfield, 16 km away. The main destination the other way is Bayfield, with 310.
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 Exeter work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Earnings at home in Exeter: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 50% of Canadian towns.
That puts Exeter 16% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. 6 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Huron census division have a higher median. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Without a car, 5.6% of Exeter’s commuters get to work
Only 17% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 93% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Time on the road to work from Exeter
A quarter-hour or less for 47% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 20.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
22% more people are on EI in the Huron census division than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.7 receive EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 3%. The highest month was February 2021: 2,400 people, 2.4 times the 2019 level.
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). Exeter shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Huron census division.
Exeter grades B+ for walkability
Better than 67% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #578 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 661 Canadian towns of 7,500 to 14,600, Exeter comes 198th on 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 Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 14 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 196 | Lorraine Quebec | 9,721 | 79% | 7.5% | $130K | B+ |
| 197 | Drummond/North Elmsley Ontario | 8,817 | 78% | 7.2% | $97K | B+ |
| 198 | South Huron Ontario | 10,781 | 79% | 7.9% | $77K | B+ |
| 199 | Muskoka Lakes Ontario | 8,463 | 82% | 9.9% | $89K | B+ |
| 200 | Huron-Kinloss Ontario | 8,445 | 78% | 6.7% | $91K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 661 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Exeter, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How Exeter compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeter | 79% | 7.9% | $77K | 23.2 min | B+ | B+ |
| Bayfield 15.6 km | 82% | 5.9% | $85K | 25.2 min | A− | A− |
| Lucan 18.1 km | 82% | 7.2% | $105K | 30.2 min | A− | 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 Exeter, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Exeter as part of South Huron, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Exeter
How do people in Exeter get to work?
93% of commuters go by car, 4.8% walk and 0.8% cycle. On census day 17% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Exeter?
On average 23.2 minutes; 47% take under 15 minutes and 6.1% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Exeter work?
54% work in Exeter itself; of those who leave, the most go to Bayfield (310), then London (250).
How many jobs are there in Exeter?
About 3,640 people had their usual place of work in Exeter at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 379 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Exeter?
Two figures answer it: 7.9% 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 Exeter?
The median household in Exeter had $77,200 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).