Photo: Hozombel at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Milton has higher household incomes than 98% of Canadian towns
Home was the workplace for 37% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Commutes from Milton average 32.4 minutes, and 11% take an hour or more. The 2021 census found 71% of working-age people in Milton employed, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Milton
Higher incomes than most towns
At $126,200 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 32.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 11% last an hour or longer. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 37% 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.
Milton earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 40% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #416 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.
Half the households in Milton had more than $126,200 in 2020
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 or more in the Halton census division, 2 have a higher median. That puts Milton 38% above the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. 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).
The length of the trip to work in Milton
Timed exactly, the average is 29.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Only 24% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 6.3% of Milton’s commuters
By bus, train or subway: 3.7%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 91% 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 commuter town: Milton sends out more workers than it takes in
The job is inside the municipality for 38% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
62% of Milton’s residents in work leave it to work; Mississauga takes the most
- Brampton2,425
- Mississauga2,400
- Hamilton1,730
- Georgetown1,360
- Burlington1,310
- Oakville1,095
- Cambridge1,020
- Guelph765
- Toronto760
- Kitchener395
- Mississauga7,440
- Toronto3,095
- Oakville2,315
- Brampton1,870
- Burlington1,260
- Georgetown945
- Vaughan615
- Hamilton605
- Guelph500
- Cambridge335
Brampton sends the largest group the other way, 2,425 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Milton
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halton census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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 Halton census division, 42% more people receive EI than in 2019
The count topped out in April 2021 at 26,830 people, 3.4 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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Halton census division as a whole, not for Milton alone.
The Walkability grade for Milton: A−
Better than 80% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #497 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
23rd of 32: where Milton ranks among Canadian towns of 110,100 to 212,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 76% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Clarington Ontario | 114,180 | 73% | 11% | $113K | B− |
| 22 | Trois-Rivières Quebec | 149,934 | 75% | 6.6% | $61K | C+ |
| 23 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 71% | 11% | $126K | C+ |
| 24 | Whitby Ontario | 162,413 | 71% | 12% | $123K | C+ |
| 25 | Chatham-Kent Ontario | 112,716 | 69% | 11% | $72K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | Niagara Falls Ontario | 113,983 | 60% | 23% | $75K | C |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Milton, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in the places around Milton
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milton | 71% | 11% | $126K | 32.4 min | C+ | A− |
| Lisgar 10.4 km | 70% | 14% | $148K | 32.7 min | C+ | A |
| Churchill Meadows 11.7 km | 65% | 14% | $128K | 32.2 min | C | A |
| Meadowvale 12.3 km | 72% | 13% | $110K | 30.9 min | C+ | A+ |
| Central Erin Mills 13.7 km | 68% | 13% | $113K | 31.2 min | C | A+ |
| Oakville 13.9 km | 71% | 12% | $129K | 29.2 min | B− | A |
| Erin Mills 14.8 km | 69% | 14% | $123K | 30 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 Milton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment 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.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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.
- 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 Milton
How many jobs are there in Milton?
The 2021 census found about 27,765 people with their usual workplace in Milton, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 4,418 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Milton?
Two figures answer it: 11% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.1% for the Toronto metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Milton?
The census puts Milton at $126,200 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Milton get to work?
91% of commuters drive, 3.7% take public transit, 2.3% walk and 0.3% cycle; 37% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Milton?
The average commute is 32.4 minutes; 24% of trips take under 15 minutes and 11% an hour or more.
Where do people in Milton work?
38% work in Milton itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Mississauga (7,440), then Toronto (3,095).
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).