Household incomes in Oakes are among the highest of any Canadian town
35% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. At 28.5 minutes on average, the trip to work from Oakes compares with 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Of Oakes’ residents aged 15 to 64, 67% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
The short version on work in Oakes
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 53% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 67%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
14% 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 ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $142,900 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 35% 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.
Oakes grades C+ for jobs and income
Better than 42% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #386 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.
In Oakes, 67% 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, 45 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 61% of the wider area’s adults in work. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 62% of residents that age. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 53% of residents 15 and over were in work. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
Before tax, the median household in Oakes had $142,900
2 of the 105 other places of 2,500+ in the Hamilton census division have a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Oakes’ median is 56% above. 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).
Before tax, 2020: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
2.4% of commuters from Oakes go without a car
Few ride transit: 0.8%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
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
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 30,560, the most in the series and 3.3 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.1 receive EI.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Hamilton census division as a whole, not for Oakes alone.
Walkability in Oakes: graded C+
Better than 45% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #706 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Oakes is 444th of 788 Canadian towns of 2,800 to 5,500 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| 10 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 442 | Gurnett Ontario | 4,582 | 69% | 12% | $108K | C+ |
| 443 | Northern Lights County Alberta | 4,115 | 72% | 10% | $89K | C+ |
| 444 | Oakes Ontario | 4,048 | 67% | 14% | $143K | C+ |
| 445 | Carleton-sur-Mer Quebec | 4,175 | 74% | 11% | $64K | C+ |
| 446 | West Meadowlark Park Alberta | 5,386 | 72% | 13% | $77K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 788 | Saint-Côme Quebec | 2,810 | 58% | 14% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Oakes, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in the places around Oakes
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakes | 67% | 14% | $143K | 28.5 min | C+ | C+ |
| Marritt 0.9 km | 74% | 8.9% | $136K | 27.3 min | B | C+ |
| Horning 1.1 km | 75% | 14% | $121K | 27.8 min | B+ | B |
| Garner 1.7 km | 75% | 8.4% | $140K | 25.4 min | A− | C+ |
| Lampman 1.7 km | 65% | 13% | $129K | 30.2 min | C | B |
| Sulphur Springs 1.8 km | 79% | 10% | $146K | 25.7 min | A | B |
| Gurnett 2.6 km | 69% | 12% | $108K | 28.5 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 Oakes, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Oakes’ dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Hamilton’s page.
Questions about work in Oakes
How many jobs are there in Oakes?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Hamilton has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Oakes?
At the 2021 census 14% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Hamilton metro area, gives 7.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Oakes?
The census puts Oakes at $142,900 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Oakes get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 0.8% take public transit and 1.6% walk. On census day 35% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).