Working-age people in Homeside are less likely to have a job than in 89% of Canadian towns
The median household in Homeside had $72,700 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. A typical one-way commute from Homeside lasts 27.8 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Unemployment in Homeside stood at 16% on census day 2021, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Homeside
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 63% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 52% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 16% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 7.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $72,700 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Homeside: D
Better than 12% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #735 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.
Work for 63% of 15-to-64s in Homeside
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Hamilton census division, 24 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 62%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 61% 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.
How Homeside’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 59% of Canadian towns.
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 or more in the Hamilton census division, 76 have a higher median. Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Homeside sits 21% below. 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).
Without a car, 11% of Homeside’s commuters get to work
By bus, train or subway: 7.5%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 85% against 88%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 15% against 21%.
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.
EI claims in the Hamilton census division run 38% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 30,560 people, 3.3 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.1 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 beneficiaries published for the Hamilton census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Homeside grades A for walkability
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #328 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Where Homeside sits among Canadian towns of 4,200 to 8,100
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| 7 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 632 | Saint-Jude Quebec | 7,364 | 76% | 8.1% | $59K | D |
| 633 | Carbonear Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,041 | 56% | 20% | $58K | D |
| 634 | Homeside Ontario | 6,011 | 63% | 16% | $73K | D |
| 635 | Queen Alexandra Alberta | 5,106 | 67% | 14% | $57K | D |
| 636 | Alberta Avenue Alberta | 6,097 | 61% | 17% | $67K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 696 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Homeside, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in and around Homeside
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homeside | 63% | 16% | $73K | 27.8 min | D | A |
| Crown Point East 0.8 km | 62% | 11% | $68K | 29.5 min | D | A+ |
| Normanhurst 1.1 km | 71% | 12% | $78K | 28.2 min | C− | A+ |
| Bartonville 1.3 km | 66% | 12% | $71K | 26.9 min | D | A+ |
| Crown Point West 1.5 km | 64% | 16% | $72K | 28.5 min | D | A+ |
| Delta East 1.7 km | 73% | 11% | $97K | 27.8 min | B− | A+ |
| Mcquesten West 1.7 km | 57% | 18% | $58K | 28.6 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 Homeside, 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Homeside’s figures add those up. Hamilton’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Homeside
How many jobs are there in Homeside?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Hamilton as a whole, and its page carries them.
What is the unemployment rate in Homeside?
Two figures answer it: 16% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.6% for the Hamilton metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Homeside?
The median household in Homeside had $72,700 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Homeside get to work?
By car: 85% of commuters, 7.5% take public transit and 3.5% walk; on census day 15% of those in work worked from home.
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).