Photo: Municipal Affairs and Housing · CC BY 2.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Kitchener trails that of 61% of Canadian towns
58,975 people have their usual place of work in Kitchener, against 75,795 residents who travel to a job. Median household income in Kitchener was $86,600 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Census day 2021 found 11% of Kitchener’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Kitchener’s work numbers say
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 71% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 59% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
Unemployment was 11% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 7.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
How Kitchener will be graded on jobs and income
Against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, the grade will weigh four census measures: the 15-to-64 employment share, median household income, the unemployment rate and the average commute.
Each working day, more people leave Kitchener for work than come in
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 47% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
53% of Kitchener’s residents in work leave it to work; Waterloo takes the most
- Waterloo12,010
- Cambridge10,550
- Guelph5,090
- Elmira3,245
- Ayr995
- New Hamburg965
- Mississauga905
- Toronto785
- Stratford570
- Hamilton405
Waterloo sends the largest group the other way, 8,200 people.
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 Kitchener work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In Kitchener, 71% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 43 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Waterloo census division, 16 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 65% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Counting those looking for work too, 67% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 59% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Household income in Kitchener
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 51% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Kitchener sits 5% below. 21 of the 43 other places of 2,500+ in the Waterloo census division have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Across Kitchener’s neighbourhoods, household incomes run from $51K to $169K
Median household income in each of Kitchener’s 37 neighbourhoods: the highest is 3.3 times the lowest. The share of 15-to-64s in work runs from 63% in Victoria Hills to 80% in Huron South.
| Neighbourhood | People | Household income | In work, 15–64 | Average trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurentian West | 16,857 | $114,100 | 70% | 26.3 min |
| Vanier | 15,686 | $67,700 | 67% | 25.5 min |
| Doon South | 15,044 | $136,300 | 72% | 28.4 min |
| Forest Heights | 14,369 | $111,300 | 74% | 24.1 min |
| Highland West | 12,476 | $109,300 | 72% | 24.6 min |
| Victoria Hills | 10,760 | $68,600 | 63% | 28.2 min |
| Grand River South | 10,723 | $132,300 | 77% | 24.1 min |
| Centreville Chicopee | 10,291 | $82,300 | 67% | 23.2 min |
| Laurentian Hills | 10,026 | $79,900 | 65% | 23.4 min |
| Rosenberg | 9,831 | $111,500 | 70% | 27.7 min |
| Pioneer Park | 8,781 | $80,900 | 74% | 26.3 min |
| Stanley Park | 8,721 | $71,400 | 72% | 22.3 min |
| Heritage Park | 6,369 | $73,500 | 69% | 22 min |
| Cherry Hill | 6,304 | $66,500 | 70% | 23.8 min |
| Rosemount | 6,169 | $77,500 | 75% | 22.5 min |
| Country Hills West | 5,936 | $104,200 | 76% | 24.4 min |
| Central Frederick | 5,895 | $70,700 | 76% | 22.3 min |
| Forest Hill | 5,760 | $85,900 | 66% | 25.6 min |
| Huron South | 5,555 | $120,100 | 80% | 28.2 min |
| Southdale | 5,277 | $62,400 | 68% | 24.8 min |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park | 5,174 | $75,100 | 74% | 23.7 min |
| Westmount | 5,048 | $88,100 | 76% | 24.7 min |
| Meinzinger Park-Lakeside | 5,007 | $74,100 | 71% | 22.9 min |
| Idlewood | 5,005 | $125,000 | 74% | 23.5 min |
| Country Hills | 4,561 | $76,500 | 70% | 24.1 min |
| Pioneer Tower West | 4,122 | $168,800 | 76% | 27.1 min |
| Auditorium | 3,918 | $83,200 | 73% | 22.9 min |
| Bridgeport East | 3,903 | $87,900 | 72% | 21.2 min |
| Grand River North | 3,823 | $115,600 | 76% | 22.4 min |
| Victoria Park | 3,574 | $64,600 | 68% | 23.1 min |
| Fairfield | 3,497 | $73,300 | 74% | 22.3 min |
| Trillium Industrial Park | 3,420 | $86,800 | 69% | 23.9 min |
| Mill Courtland Woodside Park | 3,319 | $71,000 | 72% | 24.1 min |
| Cedar Hill | 3,190 | $51,300 | 67% | 25.4 min |
| Alpine | 3,055 | $75,200 | 76% | 23.8 min |
| Bridgeport North | 2,858 | $165,200 | 74% | 20.6 min |
| City Commercial Core | 2,581 | $68,300 | 78% | 22.6 min |
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: each neighbourhood summed from its dissemination areas; incomes are 2020’s.
Walking, cycling or transit: 9.5% of Kitchener’s commuters
89% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 27% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 5.7% of commuters, above the 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.
At 25 minutes, commutes from Kitchener are close to the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 22.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Only 30% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 6.6% take an hour or more, against 7.9%.
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.
EI claims in the Waterloo census division run 47% above their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. The count topped out in April 2021 at 28,950 people, 3 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.3 are on 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 Waterloo census division as a whole, not for Kitchener alone.
Work in and around Kitchener
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchener | 71% | 11% | $87K | 25 min | — | — |
| Southdale 0.4 km | 68% | 11% | $62K | 24.8 min | D | A |
| Alpine 1.2 km | 76% | 11% | $75K | 23.8 min | B− | A |
| Mill Courtland Woodside Park 1.5 km | 72% | 13% | $71K | 24.1 min | C | A+ |
| Cedar Hill 1.6 km | 67% | 11% | $51K | 25.4 min | D | A+ |
| Laurentian Hills 1.8 km | 65% | 13% | $80K | 23.4 min | C | A− |
| Meinzinger Park-Lakeside 1.8 km | 71% | 14% | $74K | 22.9 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 Kitchener, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. 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. 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. 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.
- 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 Kitchener
How do people in Kitchener get to work?
89% of commuters drive, 5.7% take public transit, 3.2% walk and 0.6% cycle; 27% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Kitchener?
The average commute is 25 minutes; 30% of trips take under 15 minutes and 6.6% an hour or more.
Where do people in Kitchener work?
Only 47% work in Kitchener itself; the rest go first to Waterloo (12,010) and Cambridge (10,550).
How many jobs are there in Kitchener?
The 2021 census found about 58,975 people with their usual workplace in Kitchener, or 0.8 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 7,369 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kitchener?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo metro area at 7.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 11%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Kitchener?
The census puts Kitchener at $86,600 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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). 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).