Photo: William B. Grice · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Grimsby have higher incomes than those in 89% of Canadian towns
The census counted 6,225 people working in Grimsby and 8,275 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Of Grimsby’s residents aged 15 to 64, 76% were employed when the 2021 census was taken; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Out of work in May 2021: 10% of Grimsby’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Work in Grimsby: the figures worth knowing
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 76% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 58%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $104,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Grimsby earns B for jobs and income
Better than 65% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #188 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.
Grimsby households: $104,400 a year at the median
2 of the 11 other places of 2,500+ in the Niagara census division have a higher median. Grimsby’s median is 14% above the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
Each working day, more people leave Grimsby for work than come in
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. Of those who commute, 28% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
72% of Grimsby’s residents in work leave it to work; Hamilton takes the most
- Hamilton910
- St. Catharines710
- Beamsville570
- Simcoe295
- Smithville280
- Niagara Falls250
- Caledonia145
- Welland135
- Burlington130
- Thorold115
- Hamilton2,475
- Burlington640
- Beamsville570
- St. Catharines465
- Oakville370
- Mississauga305
- Toronto220
- Smithville220
- Brampton95
- Niagara Falls95
Of those coming in, Hamilton supplies the most: 910.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Grimsby, 76% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Niagara census division, 10 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 64% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 58% of residents 15 and over were in work. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 61% of the wider area’s adults in work. 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 3.9% of Grimsby’s commuters
Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters. Working at home: 28% here, 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).
Grimsby has a slower trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 28 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 25.1 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 29%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. An hour or more: 8.5% of commuters, close to 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.
In the Niagara census division, 37% more people receive EI than in 2019
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 35,740 people on EI, 4.3 times 2019’s average. Roughly 4.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose 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). Grimsby doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Niagara census division.
Walking in Grimsby earns B
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #611 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 239 Canadian towns of 22,000 to 42,500, Grimsby comes 60th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 3 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 4 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Wilmot Ontario | 22,890 | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Bridlewood - Emerald Meadows Ontario | 25,824 | 77% | 8.9% | $136K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 58 | Conception Bay South Newfoundland and Labrador | 29,725 | 72% | 11% | $94K | B+ |
| 59 | Foothills County Alberta | 25,789 | 78% | 8.7% | $133K | B+ |
| 60 | Grimsby Ontario | 31,478 | 76% | 10% | $104K | B |
| 61 | Portobello South Ontario | 29,960 | 75% | 8.5% | $129K | B |
| 62 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 77% | 10% | $122K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 239 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Grimsby, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How the places next to Grimsby compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grimsby | 76% | 10% | $104K | 28 min | B | B |
| Fifty Point 6.3 km | 75% | 9.8% | $139K | 31.7 min | B− | B− |
| Industrial 7.9 km | 76% | 9.9% | $121K | 28.2 min | B+ | B− |
| Trillium 10 km | 74% | 13% | $117K | 29.1 min | B | D |
| Smithville 11.2 km | 76% | 8.3% | $106K | 30.6 min | B | C+ |
| Beamsville 11.7 km | 76% | 9.5% | $103K | 26.1 min | B+ | B |
| Westmeria 11.8 km | 79% | 12% | $113K | 27 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 Grimsby, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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.
Questions about work in Grimsby
How many jobs are there in Grimsby?
The 2021 census counted about 6,225 people working in Grimsby: 0.8 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 814 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Grimsby?
The census put unemployment at 10% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Hamilton metro area at 7.6%.
What is the average household income in Grimsby?
The census puts Grimsby at $104,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Grimsby get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters, 0.7% take public transit, 2.8% walk and 0.4% cycle; on census day 28% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Grimsby?
28 minutes is the average trip, with 29% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.5% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Grimsby work?
28% work in Grimsby itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Hamilton (2,475), then Burlington (640).
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).