Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Colborne’s household incomes are higher than in 97% of Canadian towns
Commutes from Colborne average 27.3 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. On census day, 32% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. In Colborne, 77% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Colborne stands out on work
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $121,000 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 32% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Colborne earns A− for jobs and income
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #114 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.
Before tax, the median household in Colborne had $121,000
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 or more in the Hamilton census division, 18 have a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 6.5% of Colborne’s commuters
90% drive to work, more than the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Few ride transit: 0.4%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. On foot: 5.7% of commuters, well above the 3.2% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Who in Colborne has a job
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Hamilton census division, 97 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 59% were working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 61% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 65% of residents that age. 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.
38% more people are on EI in the Hamilton census division than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.1 are on EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 30,560, the most in the series and 3.3 times the 2019 average.
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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Hamilton census division, with Colborne one part of it.
Colborne on foot: a B grade
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #592 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Colborne next to Canadian towns of 5,200 to 10,100: 177th of 706 on 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 175 | Stettler County No. 6 Alberta | 5,966 | 80% | 7.1% | $85K | A− |
| 176 | Nicolet Quebec | 8,737 | 83% | 4% | $66K | A− |
| 177 | Colborne Ontario | 7,447 | 77% | 9.1% | $121K | A− |
| 178 | St. Paul County No. 19 Alberta | 6,462 | 82% | 5.2% | $87K | B+ |
| 179 | Augusta Ontario | 7,767 | 78% | 7.9% | $96K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Colborne, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around Colborne
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colborne | 77% | 9.1% | $121K | 27.3 min | A− | B |
| Golf Course 2.4 km | 75% | 10% | $129K | 25.3 min | A− | A− |
| York Road 2.4 km | 80% | 11% | $109K | 25.9 min | A | B |
| Central Business Dis 2.5 km | 64% | 15% | $65K | 27.2 min | D | A+ |
| Turnball 3.1 km | 77% | 8.6% | $126K | 27.7 min | B+ | B |
| Ainslie Wood West 3.9 km | 70% | 13% | $57K | 28.8 min | D | A+ |
| Ainslie Wood East 4.6 km | 60% | 16% | $58K | 31.8 min | D− | 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 Colborne, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Colborne’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Hamilton’s page.
Questions about work in Colborne
What is the unemployment rate in Colborne?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 9.1% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Hamilton metro area at 7.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Colborne?
The median household in Colborne had $121,000 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Colborne get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 0.4% take public transit, 5.7% walk and 0.4% cycle; 32% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Colborne?
Jobs are counted by municipality, not neighbourhood: the page for Hamilton has the jobs based there and where its commuters go.
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).