Photo: DXR · CC BY-SA 4.0Kingston has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 79% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 13% of Kingston’s labour force, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Kingston spend 19.8 minutes on the way to work on average, and 2.8% need an hour or more. The median household in Kingston had $79,100 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What stands out about work in Kingston
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 68% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 53%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 13% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 5.9%. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 48,365 jobs based in Kingston and 37,035 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 19.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.8% last an hour or longer. 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 Kingston: graded B−
Better than 47% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #328 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Kingston: 68%
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Frontenac census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 53% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 58% in work in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 61%. 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.
Each working day, Kingston’s workforce swells by 22%
37,035 residents of Kingston had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 48,365 people had theirs in Kingston, wherever they lived.
About 4 people arrive to work in Kingston for each resident who goes out. The job is inside the municipality for 89% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Kingston
A quarter-hour or less for 43% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 17.6 minutes. In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes.
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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
15,293 people come into Kingston to work, most from South Frontenac and Loyalist
- South Frontenac4,395
- Loyalist3,495
- Leeds and the Thousand Islands1,000
- Greater Napanee1,000
- Stone Mills925
- Gananoque525
- Rideau Lakes340
- Central Frontenac310
- Belleville260
- Frontenac Islands220
- Loyalist1,070
- Greater Napanee680
- South Frontenac295
- Gananoque290
- Belleville190
- Ottawa140
- Leeds and the Thousand Islands135
- Brockville110
- Toronto110
- Quinte West95
32% of the people who work in Kingston live outside it, 4,395 of them in South Frontenac, 20 km away. The main destination the other way is Loyalist, with 1,070.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Kingston work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Kingston
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 54% of Canadian towns.
That puts Kingston 14% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. One of the 3 other places of 2,500+ in the Frontenac census division has a higher median. 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).
16% of commuters from Kingston go without a car
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 8.5% against 3.2%. The car takes 82% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Working at home: 26% here, 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 6.2%, 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
15% more people are on EI in the Frontenac census division than in 2019
That is about 3.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 3%. The highest month was April 2021: 7,710 people, 3 times the 2019 level.
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 Frontenac census division as a whole, not for Kingston alone.
How walkable Kingston is: A+
Better than 97% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #275 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 104,700 to 201,900, Kingston ranks 22nd of 37 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 76% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Chilliwack British Columbia | 105,520 | 76% | 6.6% | $85K | B− |
| 21 | Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury Ontario | 188,504 | 71% | 10% | $84K | B− |
| 22 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 68% | 13% | $79K | B− |
| 23 | Cambridge Ontario | 165,354 | 72% | 12% | $93K | B− |
| 24 | Sherbrooke Quebec | 184,135 | 77% | 6.1% | $63K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 59% | 20% | $63K | C− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Kingston, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around Kingston
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | 68% | 13% | $79K | 19.8 min | B− | A+ |
| Loyalist 13.4 km | 68% | 9.7% | $94K | 25 min | B− | B− |
| Frontenac Islands 15 km | 77% | 9.9% | $90K | 37.3 min | C+ | B |
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 Kingston, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
Questions about work in Kingston
How do people in Kingston get to work?
By car: 82% of commuters, 6.2% take public transit, 8.5% walk and 1.5% cycle; on census day 26% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Kingston?
19.8 minutes is the average trip, with 43% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.8% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Kingston work?
Most stay: 89% work in Kingston. The rest go first to Loyalist (1,070) and Greater Napanee (680).
How many jobs are there in Kingston?
The 2021 census counted about 48,365 people working in Kingston: 1.3 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 4,457 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kingston?
The census put unemployment at 13% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Kingston metro area at 5.9%.
What is the average household income in Kingston?
Before tax, half the households in Kingston had more than $79,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).