Photo: P199 · Public domainLanark Highlands has 0.3 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
Working at home: 31% of its workers, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. The average trip to work from Lanark Highlands is 38.6 minutes; 17% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Median household income in Lanark Highlands was $81,300 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Lanark Highlands apart on jobs and income
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 38.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 17% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 31% 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.
Jobs & income in Lanark Highlands: graded C−
Better than 18% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #667 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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.
Time on the road to work from Lanark Highlands
Timed exactly, the average is 34.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). 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.
Lanark Highlands gets to work without a car for 2.9% of commuters
Few ride transit: 0.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 97% of commuters.
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.
A commuter town: Lanark Highlands sends out more workers than it takes in
1,220 residents of Lanark Highlands had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 330 people had theirs in Lanark Highlands, wherever they lived.
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 6 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 12% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
88% of Lanark Highlands’ residents in work leave it to work; Ottawa takes the most
Coming the other way, Drummond/North Elmsley sends the most (45).
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 Lanark Highlands work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Lanark Highlands: 73%
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lanark census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 52% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Counting those looking for work too, 57% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
What households in Lanark Highlands earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 59% of Canadian towns.
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Lanark census division, 6 have a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Lanark Highlands’ median is 11% below. 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).
EI claims in the Lanark census division run 20% above their 2019 level
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.1 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The highest month was February 2021: 3,450 people, 2.6 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Lanark census division, with Lanark Highlands one part of it.
How walkable Lanark Highlands is: C
Better than 29% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #779 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Lanark Highlands ranks: 599th of 700 Canadian towns of 4,500 to 8,600
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 597 | Duncan British Columbia | 5,745 | 70% | 9.5% | $53K | C− |
| 598 | Lawfield Ontario | 6,021 | 64% | 14% | $78K | C− |
| 599 | Lanark Highlands Ontario | 6,370 | 73% | 9.1% | $81K | C− |
| 600 | University Ontario | 7,595 | 62% | 15% | $81K | C− |
| 601 | Heritage Saskatchewan | 5,172 | 61% | 16% | $53K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 700 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Lanark Highlands, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work next door to Lanark Highlands
Lanark Highlands has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 22–29 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanark Highlands | 73% | 9.1% | $81K | 38.6 min | C− | C |
| Tay Valley 22.1 km | 70% | 11% | $90K | 29 min | C | C− |
| Perth 23.5 km | 69% | 13% | $64K | 24.3 min | C− | A+ |
| Drummond/North Elmsley 23.8 km | 78% | 7.2% | $97K | 27.2 min | B+ | D |
| Carleton Place 28.5 km | 78% | 7.8% | $89K | 26 min | B+ | A |
| Beckwith 29.1 km | 79% | 6.4% | $126K | 30 min | B+ | D |
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 Lanark Highlands, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment 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. 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. 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Lanark Highlands
What is the average household income in Lanark Highlands?
The median household in Lanark Highlands had $81,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Lanark Highlands get to work?
97% of commuters drive, 0.6% take public transit and 2.3% walk; 31% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Lanark Highlands?
The average commute is 38.6 minutes; 12% of trips take under 15 minutes and 17% an hour or more.
Where do people in Lanark Highlands work?
Only 12% work in Lanark Highlands itself; the rest go first to Ottawa (335) and Perth (335).
How many jobs are there in Lanark Highlands?
The 2021 census found about 330 people with their usual workplace in Lanark Highlands, or 0.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 128 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Lanark Highlands?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Ottawa economic region at 8%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.1%, against 9.9% 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) · 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).