Photo: Sikander Iqbal · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in German Mills earn more than in almost any other Canadian town
44% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Commutes from German Mills average 29.7 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. 74% of people aged 15 to 64 in German Mills had a job at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
The short version on work in German Mills
Higher incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $134,100 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 29.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Many work from home
44% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. 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 and income in German Mills earn B
Better than 58% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #239 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.
What households earned in German Mills: $134,100 in 2020
16 of the 52 other places of 2,500+ in the York census division have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and German Mills is 46% above it. 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).
Before tax, 2020: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
German Mills gets to work without a car for 7.5% of commuters
By bus, train or subway: 5.3%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car takes 87% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Who in German Mills has a job
Of the 52 other places of 2,500 people or more in the York census division, 48 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 60% of residents that age. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 52% were working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 62% in October 2026. 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.
In the York census division, 39% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 2%. In April 2021 it reached 58,380, the most in the series and 3.7 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 3.5 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the York census division, German Mills included.
On getting around on foot, German Mills grades A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #528 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 644 Canadian towns of 8,300 to 16,100, German Mills comes 262nd on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| 4 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 9 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 260 | Blossom Park - Timbermill Ontario | 8,907 | 69% | 12% | $107K | B |
| 261 | Alderwood Ontario | 12,596 | 74% | 12% | $111K | B |
| 262 | German Mills Ontario | 11,923 | 74% | 12% | $134K | B |
| 263 | Hunt Club Park Ontario | 8,556 | 65% | 14% | $107K | B |
| 264 | Walker Alberta | 13,388 | 74% | 11% | $111K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 644 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of German Mills, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in the places around German Mills
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German Mills | 74% | 12% | $134K | 29.7 min | B | A− |
| Thornlea 2 km | 75% | 11% | $97K | 30.7 min | B− | A+ |
| Hillcrest Village 2.2 km | 67% | 14% | $92K | 36.2 min | C− | A+ |
| Bayview Woods-Steeles 3.2 km | 68% | 13% | $98K | 34 min | C− | A+ |
| Steeles 3.7 km | 58% | 19% | $82K | 32.3 min | D | A+ |
| Steeles Corners 4.1 km | 63% | 17% | $71K | 33.9 min | D− | A+ |
| Langstaff 4.2 km | 68% | 14% | $93K | 32.2 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 German Mills, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and German Mills’ figures add those up. Markham’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in German Mills
How many jobs are there in German Mills?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Markham’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
What is the unemployment rate in German Mills?
At the 2021 census 12% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Toronto metro area, gives 7.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in German Mills?
German Mills’s middle household had $134,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in German Mills get to work?
Driving takes 87% of commuters to work, 5.3% take public transit and 2.2% walk, and on census day 44% of those in work were at home.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).