Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Hanover trail those of 70% of Canadian towns
At the 2021 census, Hanover sat at the middle of Canadian towns on work: 73% of 15-to-64s had a job. The census counted 3,875 people working in Hanover and 2,475 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Unemployment in Hanover stood at 9.5% on census day 2021, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Hanover, in a few figures
Lower incomes than most towns
At $68,600 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
3,875 people work in Hanover and 2,475 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 6% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs & income in Hanover: graded C+
Better than 40% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #418 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.
$68,600 a year: the median household in Hanover
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Hanover’s median is 25% below. 7 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Grey census division have a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Workers pour into Hanover: 50% more on a working day
Hanover takes in some 2 workers for every resident it sends out.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Shorter than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Hanover average 21.4 minutes
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 57%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 6% take an hour or more, against 7.9%. Timed exactly, the average is 19.3 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
2,360 people come into Hanover to work, most from Durham and Walkerton
- Durham925
- Walkerton660
- Mildmay210
- Chesley125
- Chatsworth100
- Dundalk35
- Owen Sound35
- Palmerston25
- Kincardine25
- Port Elgin25
Of everyone working in Hanover, 61% come in from elsewhere; 925 make the 15 km trip from Durham. Walkerton is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 285 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Hanover were working in 2021
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Grey census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 50% were working. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 54% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 55% of residents that age. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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 11% of Hanover’s commuters
88% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Home was the workplace for 10%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% 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).
EI claims in the Grey census division run 32% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 4,700 people, 3 times the 2019 average. That is about 3.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Grey 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).
Hanover earns A for walkability
Better than 85% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #457 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
433rd of 680: where Hanover ranks among Canadian towns of 6,100 to 11,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | West Perth Ontario | 10,080 | 88% | 5% | $92K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 431 | Acadia Alberta | 9,950 | 72% | 14% | $74K | C+ |
| 432 | Sackville New Brunswick | 6,572 | 69% | 12% | $68K | C+ |
| 433 | Hanover Ontario | 8,723 | 73% | 9.5% | $69K | C+ |
| 434 | Mountview Ontario | 7,752 | 69% | 12% | $91K | C+ |
| 435 | Leeds and the Thousand Islands Ontario | 10,185 | 75% | 11% | $91K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 680 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Hanover, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How the places next to Hanover compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanover | 73% | 9.5% | $69K | 21.4 min | C+ | A |
| Walkerton 9.6 km | 79% | 6.4% | $83K | 23 min | A− | C+ |
| Durham 14.7 km | 78% | 7.8% | $78K | 30.2 min | C+ | C |
| Mildmay 15.5 km | 82% | 6.1% | $88K | 26.3 min | A− | C+ |
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 Hanover, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Hanover
How many jobs are there in Hanover?
About 3,875 people had their usual place of work in Hanover at the 2021 census, 1.6 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 364 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Hanover?
The 2021 census found 9.5% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region, is 3.8% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Hanover?
Hanover’s middle household had $68,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Hanover get to work?
88% of commuters go by car, 11% walk and 0.5% cycle. On census day 10% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Hanover?
On average 21.4 minutes; 57% take under 15 minutes and 6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Hanover work?
61% work in Hanover itself; of those who leave, the most go to Walkerton (285), then Kincardine (105).
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).