Photo: Rick Cordeiro · Public domainCentral’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of Canadian towns
Of Central’s residents aged 15 to 64, 61% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. 31% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. At 27.4 minutes on average, the trip to work from Central compares with 26 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Central: what the figures say
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 61% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 58% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 7.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $56,300 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Central grades D− for jobs and income
Better than 3% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #837 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.
In Central, 61% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Hamilton census division, 12 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
67% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. 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.
$56,300 a year: the median household in Central
98 of the 105 other places of 2,500+ in the Hamilton census division have a higher median. Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Central sits 39% below. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
Central gets to work without a car for 34% of commuters
Transit takes 15% of commuters, above the 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Ontario’s towns has 3.2% walking; here, 17% do. The car takes 62% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Hamilton census division, 38% more people receive EI than in 2019
Roughly 4.1 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%. The highest month was January 2021: 30,560 people, 3.3 times the 2019 level.
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 Hamilton 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).
Central grades A+ for walkability
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #1 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Where Central sits among Canadian towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 748 | Cumberland County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 3,401 | 58% | 16% | $49K | D− |
| 749 | Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez Quebec | 3,639 | 70% | 11% | $61K | D− |
| 750 | Central Ontario | 3,698 | 61% | 15% | $56K | D− |
| 751 | Kentley Ontario | 4,007 | 61% | 15% | $54K | D− |
| 752 | Central Park Manitoba | 4,328 | 56% | 16% | $37K | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 769 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Central, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in the places around Central
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 61% | 15% | $56K | 27.4 min | D− | A+ |
| Strathcona 1 km | 68% | 14% | $63K | 27.3 min | D | A+ |
| North End East 1.2 km | 62% | 16% | $73K | 29.8 min | D | A+ |
| Durand 1.2 km | 65% | 13% | $49K | 29.1 min | D− | A+ |
| Beasley 1.2 km | 49% | 17% | $47K | 29.7 min | D− | A+ |
| Corktown 1.6 km | 63% | 13% | $52K | 30.3 min | D− | A+ |
| Kirkendall North 1.7 km | 74% | 11% | $79K | 27.4 min | C | 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 Central, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- Neighbourhood figures. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages stop at the municipality, so Hamilton’s page carries them; Central’s own figures sum its dissemination areas.
Questions about work in Central
How do people in Central get to work?
62% of commuters drive, 15% take public transit, 17% walk and 2.3% cycle; 31% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Central?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Hamilton as a whole, and its page carries them.
What is the unemployment rate in Central?
The census put unemployment at 15% 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 Central?
Central’s middle household had $56,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).