Photo: Skeezix1000 · CC BY-SA 3.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Gravenhurst than in 81% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Gravenhurst reached 11%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Getting to work from Gravenhurst takes 26.8 minutes on average, an hour or more for 8.8%. Median household income in Gravenhurst was $73,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Gravenhurst: what the figures say
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 67% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 49%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
Unemployment was 11% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 5.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Gravenhurst: C−
Better than 17% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #673 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
How many in Gravenhurst have a job: 67% of 15-to-64s
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Muskoka census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 55% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 49%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 53% in October 2026. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Gravenhurst keeps its workforce on a working day
3,310 residents of Gravenhurst had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 3,220 people had theirs in Gravenhurst, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 52% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
48% of Gravenhurst’s residents in work leave it to work; Bracebridge takes the most
- Bracebridge575
- Orillia155
- Huntsville155
- Severn150
- Muskoka Lakes85
- Ramara75
- Barrie65
- Perry30
- Springwater20
- Oro-Medonte20
- Bracebridge660
- Orillia215
- Muskoka Lakes160
- Barrie115
- Huntsville75
- Severn55
- Vaughan40
- Toronto40
- Mississauga35
- Ramara25
Bracebridge sends the largest group the other way, 575 people.
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 Gravenhurst work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
What households in Gravenhurst earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Muskoka census division has a higher median. That puts Gravenhurst 19% 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).
7.9% of commuters from Gravenhurst go without a car
Transit takes 0.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Ontario’s towns has 3.2% walking; here, 7.2% do. Nearly everyone drives: 90% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 18%, 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
The length of the trip to work in Gravenhurst
A quarter-hour or less for 35% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 25.3 minutes. 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.
38% more people are on EI in the Muskoka census division than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.2 receive EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 12%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,910 people on EI, 3.2 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Muskoka census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Gravenhurst grades B+ for walkability
Better than 67% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #575 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 558 Canadian towns of 10,200 to 19,700, Gravenhurst comes 462nd on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 460 | Dutrisac Quebec | 10,643 | 69% | 12% | $80K | C− |
| 461 | Etobicoke West Mall Ontario | 12,218 | 68% | 14% | $85K | C− |
| 462 | Gravenhurst Ontario | 14,576 | 67% | 11% | $74K | C− |
| 463 | Dover Alberta | 10,440 | 66% | 17% | $70K | C− |
| 464 | Lougheed British Columbia | 15,442 | 73% | 11% | $77K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 558 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Gravenhurst, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Gravenhurst and its neighbours: work and income
The nearest places to Gravenhurst with figures are 16–29 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravenhurst | 67% | 11% | $74K | 26.8 min | C− | B+ |
| Bracebridge 15.7 km | 76% | 9.9% | $85K | 23.6 min | B+ | B− |
| Muskoka Lakes 25.2 km | 82% | 9.9% | $89K | 28.6 min | B+ | C |
| Severn 27.8 km | 74% | 11% | $94K | 30.4 min | C+ | C |
| Chippewas of Rama First Nation 28.6 km | 48% | 28% | $68K | 19.4 min | C− | 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 Gravenhurst, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Gravenhurst
How long is the commute from Gravenhurst?
About 26.8 minutes on average, with 35% under a quarter-hour and 8.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Gravenhurst work?
Most stay: 52% work in Gravenhurst. The rest go first to Bracebridge (660) and Orillia (215).
How many jobs are there in Gravenhurst?
Some 3,220 people worked in Gravenhurst at the 2021 census: 1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 469 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Gravenhurst?
Two figures answer it: 11% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.1% for the Muskoka-Kawarthas economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Gravenhurst?
Gravenhurst’s middle household had $73,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Gravenhurst get to work?
Driving takes 90% of commuters to work, 0.2% take public transit, 7.2% walk and 0.5% cycle, and on census day 18% of those in work were at 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).