Photo: JustSomePics · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs and earnings in Meaford, and the trip to work
1,755 people have their usual place of work in Meaford, against 2,905 residents who travel to a job. Half the households in Meaford had more than $79,000 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. The 2021 census found 76% of working-age people in Meaford employed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Work in Meaford, in a few figures
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 76% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 49%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
Census day in 2021 put 10% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 3.8% 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.
Meaford grades B− for jobs and income
Better than 53% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #280 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.
More workers leave Meaford each day than arrive
It sends out some 3 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 35% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
65% of Meaford’s residents in work leave it to work; Owen Sound takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Owen Sound (210).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Meaford
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Grey census division, 4 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 55% of residents that age. Counting retirees, 49% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 54% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
How Meaford’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 54% of Canadian towns.
5 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Grey census division have a higher median. Meaford’s median is 14% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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).
5.2% of commuters in Meaford walk, cycle or take transit
Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. 25% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.4%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
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: 24.2 minutes from Meaford
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 39% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 5.9% take an hour or more, against 7.9%. Timed exactly, the average is 22.2 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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 Grey census division, 32% more people receive EI than in 2019
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 4,700 people, 3 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.6 receive 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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Meaford alone, so this card uses the figure for the Grey census division.
Meaford grades B− for walkability
Better than 54% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #660 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Meaford ranks: 277th of 608 Canadian towns of 8,900 to 17,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 8 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 275 | Hyde Park Ontario | 14,769 | 69% | 13% | $101K | B− |
| 276 | Sunnyside British Columbia | 16,784 | 78% | 8.2% | $90K | B− |
| 277 | Meaford Ontario | 12,652 | 76% | 10% | $79K | B− |
| 278 | Lawrence Park South Ontario | 15,018 | 73% | 9.9% | $181K | B− |
| 279 | Arbour Lake Alberta | 10,454 | 71% | 12% | $110K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 608 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Meaford, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in and around Meaford
Distances here run 20–27 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Meaford.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaford | 76% | 10% | $79K | 24.2 min | B− | B− |
| Thornbury 19.9 km | 76% | 11% | $101K | 25.7 min | B+ | B+ |
| Owen Sound 21.5 km | 69% | 11% | $63K | 19 min | C | A |
| Georgian Bluffs 26.6 km | 76% | 8.7% | $95K | 24.9 min | B+ | C− |
| Chatsworth 27.2 km | 74% | 8.2% | $81K | 29.7 min | C | C− |
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 Meaford, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Meaford
What is the average household income in Meaford?
At $79,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Meaford compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Meaford get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 0.4% take public transit, 4.4% walk and 0.4% cycle; 25% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Meaford?
The average commute is 24.2 minutes; 39% of trips take under 15 minutes and 5.9% an hour or more.
Where do people in Meaford work?
Only 35% work in Meaford itself; the rest go first to Owen Sound (790) and Thornbury (400).
How many jobs are there in Meaford?
The 2021 census found about 1,755 people with their usual workplace in Meaford, or 0.6 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 412 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Meaford?
The 2021 census found 10% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region, is 3.8% (October 2026).
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).