Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lakeshore has higher household incomes than 95% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census put unemployment in Lakeshore at 13%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. 10,590 people have their usual place of work in Lakeshore, against 12,815 residents who travel to a job. Jobs were held by 71% of people aged 15 to 64 in Lakeshore in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Lakeshore apart on jobs and income
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 7.5%. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household had $114,000 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. 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 Lakeshore: B+
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #180 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.
How many in Lakeshore were working in 2021
Of the 22 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Essex census division, 20 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 59% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 66%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 57% were working. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
$114,000 a year: the median household in Lakeshore
Of the 22 other places of 2,500 or more in the Essex census division, 2 have a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Lakeshore’s median is 24% above. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
More workers leave Lakeshore each day than arrive
The job is inside the municipality for 28% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
72% of Lakeshore’s residents in work leave it to work; Windsor takes the most
- Windsor4,120
- Tecumseh780
- Chatham425
- Essex410
- Kingsville330
- Leamington325
- LaSalle310
- Amherstburg275
- Corunna15
- London10
- Windsor5,190
- Tecumseh1,520
- Chatham815
- Leamington565
- Essex475
- Kingsville265
- LaSalle160
- Amherstburg70
- Southwold40
- London25
Of those coming in, Windsor supplies the most: 4,120.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 1.7% of Lakeshore’s commuters
Only 18% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.1%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 97% 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).
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 24.4 minutes from Lakeshore
An hour or more: 1.3% of commuters, under the 7.9% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 22 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 25%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns.
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.
In the Essex census division, 37% more people receive EI than in 2019
April 2021 was the busiest month, with 30,890 people on EI, 4.1 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.5 receive EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Essex 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).
Walking in Lakeshore earns C
Better than 27% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #784 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Lakeshore is 28th of 109 Canadian towns of 32,200 to 62,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Dieppe New Brunswick | 35,986 | 79% | 6.7% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Centre Wellington Ontario | 34,565 | 81% | 7.2% | $101K | A− |
| 11 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 69% | 13% | $119K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Stratford Ontario | 36,097 | 76% | 11% | $77K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Okotoks Alberta | 33,482 | 75% | 9.2% | $118K | B+ |
| 27 | Mascouche Quebec | 56,897 | 83% | 5% | $93K | B+ |
| 28 | Lakeshore Ontario | 45,954 | 71% | 13% | $114K | B+ |
| 29 | Vaudreuil-Dorion Quebec | 46,413 | 80% | 7.2% | $89K | B |
| 30 | Moose Jaw Saskatchewan | 36,337 | 73% | 9.5% | $74K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 109 | Sainte-Marie Quebec | 33,699 | 72% | 11% | $55K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Lakeshore, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How Lakeshore compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore | 71% | 13% | $114K | 24.4 min | B+ | C |
| Tecumseh 12.9 km | 70% | 13% | $109K | 20.4 min | A− | C+ |
| East Riverside 16 km | 64% | 17% | $96K | 20.8 min | B | C+ |
| Forest Glade 16.3 km | 56% | 20% | $76K | 19.2 min | C | B |
| Riverside 18.9 km | 64% | 18% | $74K | 19.9 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 Lakeshore, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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 Lakeshore
How long is the commute from Lakeshore?
On average 24.4 minutes; 25% take under 15 minutes and 1.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Lakeshore work?
28% work in Lakeshore itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Windsor (5,190), then Tecumseh (1,520).
How many jobs are there in Lakeshore?
About 10,590 people had their usual place of work in Lakeshore at the 2021 census, 0.8 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 1,320 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Lakeshore?
Two figures answer it: 13% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.5% for the Windsor metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Lakeshore?
The median household in Lakeshore had $114,000 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Lakeshore get to work?
97% of commuters go by car, 0.1% take public transit, 1.5% walk and 0.1% cycle. On census day 18% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).