Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Geraldton than in 82% of Canadian towns
8.7% of the labour force in Geraldton was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Commutes from Geraldton average 18.4 minutes, and 7.5% take an hour or more. Median household income in Geraldton was $72,800 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
The work numbers behind Geraldton
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 67% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 51%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $72,800 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 1,420 jobs based in Geraldton and 1,325 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 18.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.5% 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.
Jobs and income in Geraldton earn C+
Better than 41% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #408 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.
Geraldton at work: 67% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Thunder Bay census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 51% of residents 15 and over were in work. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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 Geraldton’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 59% of Canadian towns.
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Thunder Bay census division has a higher median. That puts Geraldton 21% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
A working day adds 7% to the people at work in Geraldton
Each resident commuting out of Geraldton is matched by about 2 coming in. The job is inside the municipality for 90% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Geraldton
In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 67%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 18.6 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.
233 people come into Geraldton to work, most from Thunder Bay and Schreiber
- Thunder Bay55
- Schreiber40
- Thunder Bay, Unorganized15
- Little Current10
- Nipigon10
- Manitouwadge10
- Ginoogaming First Nation10
- Long Lake 5810
- Aroland10
- Cochrane20
- Thunder Bay15
- Hornepayne10
- Marathon10
- Long Lake 5810
- Fort Hope 6410
16% of the people who work in Geraldton live outside it, 55 of them in Thunder Bay, 222 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Cochrane (20).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Leaving the car at home: 13% of commuters in Geraldton
Few ride transit: 1.2%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 12% against 3.2%. The car takes 85% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Home was the workplace for 6.2%, 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).
About as many people are on EI in the Thunder Bay census division as in 2019
April 2021 was the busiest month, with 8,970 people on EI, 2.6 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 4 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%.
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). Geraldton doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Thunder Bay census division.
Getting around Geraldton on foot earns A
Better than 86% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #445 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Geraldton is 422nd of 719 Canadian towns of 3,100 to 5,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 420 | Didsbury Alberta | 5,185 | 76% | 10% | $78K | C+ |
| 421 | County Court Ontario | 5,726 | 68% | 17% | $109K | C+ |
| 422 | Greenstone Ontario | 4,398 | 67% | 8.7% | $73K | C+ |
| 423 | Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Quebec | 5,393 | 75% | 9.5% | $81K | C+ |
| 424 | Montague Ontario | 4,414 | 75% | 7.8% | $98K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 719 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Geraldton, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Geraldton and its neighbours: work and income
Geraldton has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 104–120 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geraldton | 67% | 8.7% | $73K | 18.4 min | C+ | A |
| Manitouwadge 104.4 km | 65% | 13% | $71K | 24.3 min | C− | B+ |
| Schreiber 104.5 km | 65% | 9.6% | $76K | 14 min | B− | B+ |
| Terrace Bay 105.3 km | 67% | 9% | $87K | 12.9 min | B+ | A− |
| Marathon 120 km | 68% | 8.2% | $94K | 20.1 min | B+ | 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 Geraldton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Geraldton as part of Greenstone, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Geraldton
What is the average household income in Geraldton?
The census puts Geraldton at $72,800 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Geraldton get to work?
85% of commuters drive, 1.2% take public transit and 12% walk; 6.2% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Geraldton?
The average commute is 18.4 minutes; 67% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.5% an hour or more.
Where do people in Geraldton work?
Most stay: 90% work in Geraldton. The rest go first to Cochrane (20) and Thunder Bay (15).
How many jobs are there in Geraldton?
The 2021 census found about 1,420 people with their usual workplace in Geraldton, or 1.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 155 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Geraldton?
The census put unemployment at 8.7% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Northwest economic region at 2.9%.
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).