Photo: Chicken4War · CC BY-SA 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Midland trails that of 84% of Canadian towns
Before tax, the typical household in Midland brought in $69,600 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Midland is the usual workplace of 7,185 people, and 4,835 of its own residents commute to a job. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 13% of Midland’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Work in Midland, in a few figures
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 66% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 46%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $69,600 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
7,185 people work in Midland and 4,835 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 8.8% take an hour or more. The trip 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 Midland: graded C
Better than 26% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #601 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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 Midland have a job: 66% of 15-to-64s
Of the 17 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Simcoe census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 46% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 64% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Counting those looking for work too, 53% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Earnings at home in Midland: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 67% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Midland is 24% below it. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Simcoe census division has a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On a working day Midland gains 40% in workers
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Midland. The job is inside the municipality for 60% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Midland has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 21.8 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.7 minutes. The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 59% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 8.8%.
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.
4,265 people come into Midland to work, most from Tiny and Tay
- Tiny1,215
- Tay1,170
- Penetanguishene885
- Barrie180
- Springwater175
- Oro-Medonte140
- Severn105
- Wasaga Beach85
- Orillia40
- Georgian Bay35
- Penetanguishene660
- Barrie395
- Orillia95
- Tay90
- Tiny80
- Alliston50
- East Ferris45
- North Bay45
- Oro-Medonte40
- Toronto35
Of everyone working in Midland, 59% come in from elsewhere; 1,215 make the 10 km trip from Tiny. The main destination the other way is Penetanguishene, with 660.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walking, cycling or transit: 9.5% of Midland’s commuters
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 7.9% against 3.2%. 88% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 16% against 21%. Transit takes 0.9% of commuters, against 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).
In the Simcoe census division, 38% more people receive EI than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.4 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 5%. In February 2021 it reached 31,440, the most in the series and 3.2 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Simcoe 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).
On getting around on foot, Midland grades A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #405 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 13,500 to 26,100, Midland ranks 333rd of 474 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Wilmot Ontario | 22,890 | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Thames Centre Ontario | 15,475 | 80% | 7.7% | $113K | A |
| 29 | North Perth Ontario | 18,168 | 83% | 5.7% | $84K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 331 | Willowridge-Martingrove-Richview Ontario | 22,456 | 68% | 14% | $94K | C |
| 332 | Granville Entertainment District British Columbia | 19,125 | 73% | 9% | $72K | C |
| 333 | Midland Ontario | 19,305 | 66% | 13% | $70K | C |
| 334 | East End-Danforth Ontario | 22,055 | 71% | 13% | $92K | C |
| 335 | Royal Oak British Columbia | 18,364 | 71% | 11% | $88K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 474 | Oakridge Ontario | 13,913 | 51% | 21% | $60K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Midland, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around Midland
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midland | 66% | 13% | $70K | 21.8 min | C | A |
| Penetanguishene 4.9 km | 60% | 12% | $74K | 20.9 min | C | B+ |
| Tay 8.9 km | 69% | 11% | $82K | 29.3 min | C− | C+ |
| Tiny 9.8 km | 70% | 12% | $88K | 29.1 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 Midland, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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.
Questions about work in Midland
Where do people in Midland work?
Most stay: 60% work in Midland. The rest go first to Penetanguishene (660) and Barrie (395).
How many jobs are there in Midland?
The 2021 census counted about 7,185 people working in Midland: 1.5 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 604 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Midland?
Two figures answer it: 13% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.5% for the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Midland?
At $69,600 before tax in 2020, the median household in Midland compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Midland get to work?
By car: 88% of commuters, 0.9% take public transit, 7.9% walk and 0.7% cycle; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Midland?
21.8 minutes is the average trip, with 59% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.8% taking an hour or more.
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).