Photo: Cindy Funk · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Goderich are lower than in 68% of Canadian towns
Jobs located in Goderich: 3,930, for 2,420 residents with a usual workplace. With 73% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, Goderich matches the middle of Canadian towns. The 2021 census put unemployment in Goderich at 9.3%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Goderich and work: the main findings
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $69,300 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 3,930 jobs based in Goderich and 2,420 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 18.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.8% 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 & income in Goderich: graded B−
Better than 50% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #300 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
$69,300 a year: the median household in Goderich
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Goderich’s median is 24% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Huron census division has a higher median. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Every working day, Goderich’s workforce grows by 53%
Each resident commuting out of Goderich is matched by about 4 coming in. Of those who commute, 75% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
18.1 minutes from Goderich to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
A quarter-hour or less for 66% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. An hour or more: 5.8% of commuters, under the 7.9% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 15.7 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.
2,105 people come into Goderich to work, most from Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh and Clinton
- Clinton160
- Kincardine115
- Wingham60
- Bayfield55
- Stratford30
- Seaforth30
- Mitchell25
- Exeter25
- Morris-Turnberry15
- Toronto10
54% of the people who work in Goderich live outside it, 750 of them in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, 13 km away. Going the other way, Clinton is the biggest single destination (160).
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 Goderich
None of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Huron census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 54% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 53% 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 48%. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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.
13% of commuters from Goderich go without a car
Fewer drive than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 86% against 88%. Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% 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).
In the Huron census division, 22% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 3%. At its peak, in February 2021, 2,400 people were on EI, 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.7 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Huron census division, Goderich included.
Everyday places on foot in Goderich: A
Better than 95% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #318 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 5,900 to 11,400, Goderich ranks 350th of 686 for 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 River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | West Perth Ontario | 10,080 | 88% | 5% | $92K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 348 | Woodbine Alberta | 8,075 | 70% | 15% | $117K | B− |
| 349 | Contrecoeur Quebec | 10,708 | 81% | 5.9% | $82K | B− |
| 350 | Goderich Ontario | 8,412 | 73% | 9.3% | $69K | B− |
| 351 | Cochrane Ontario | 5,948 | 68% | 7.9% | $76K | B− |
| 352 | Portage la Prairie Manitoba | 7,359 | 68% | 5.8% | $88K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 686 | Beasley Ontario | 6,338 | 49% | 17% | $47K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Goderich, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How Goderich compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goderich | 73% | 9.3% | $69K | 18.1 min | B− | A |
| Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh 13.3 km | 82% | 5.1% | $78K | 26 min | B+ | D |
| Clinton 15.1 km | 83% | 6.2% | $80K | 22.6 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 Goderich, 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. 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.
- 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. 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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.
Questions about work in Goderich
What is the unemployment rate in Goderich?
The census put unemployment at 9.3% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region at 3.8%.
What is the average household income in Goderich?
The census puts Goderich at $69,300 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Goderich get to work?
By car: 86% of commuters, 0.7% take public transit, 9.9% walk and 2% cycle; on census day 13% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Goderich?
18.1 minutes is the average trip, with 66% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.8% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Goderich work?
Most stay: 75% work in Goderich. The rest go first to Clinton (160) and Kincardine (115).
How many jobs are there in Goderich?
The 2021 census counted about 3,930 people working in Goderich: 1.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 302 businesses with employees in June 2026.
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).