Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Moonbeam than in 96% of Canadian towns
95 people have their usual place of work in Moonbeam, against 285 residents who travel to a job. Half the households in Moonbeam had more than $90,700 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Out of work in May 2021: 15% of Moonbeam’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The work figures that set Moonbeam apart
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 56% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 42%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 15% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6% 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.
On jobs and income, Moonbeam grades C
Better than 34% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Moonbeam at work: 56% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Cochrane census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 49% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 42%. In October 2026, 56% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
More workers leave Moonbeam each day than arrive
It sends out some 5 workers for every one it takes in. Of those who commute, 18% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
82% of Moonbeam’s residents in work leave it to work; Kapuskasing takes the most
- Kapuskasing25
- Fauquier-Strickland15
In the other direction the biggest source is Kapuskasing, with 25.
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 Moonbeam work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Moonbeam’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 76% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Moonbeam is 1% below it. One of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Cochrane 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 5.6% of Moonbeam’s commuters
The car is the way to work for 90% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 12% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
At 24.4 minutes, commutes from Moonbeam are close to the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 35%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. An hour or more: 8.3% of commuters, close to the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 22.6 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.
12% fewer people are on EI in the Cochrane census division than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 3%. July 2021 was the busiest month, with 4,270 people on EI, 2 times 2019’s average. Roughly 4.7 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Cochrane 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).
The walkability of Moonbeam: B−
Better than 50% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Moonbeam compares with the places nearby
Moonbeam has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 18–58 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonbeam | 56% | 15% | $91K | 24.4 min | C | B− |
| Kapuskasing 17.8 km | 68% | 7.7% | $69K | 14.8 min | C+ | A |
| Smooth Rock Falls 41.4 km | 57% | 8.8% | $66K | 30.7 min | D− | A− |
| Cochrane, Unorganized, North Part 58.2 km | 65% | 11% | $98K | 20.7 min | B | B |
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 Moonbeam, 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. 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. 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. 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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 Moonbeam
How long is the commute from Moonbeam?
The average commute is 24.4 minutes; 35% of trips take under 15 minutes and 8.3% an hour or more.
Where do people in Moonbeam work?
Only 18% work in Moonbeam itself; the rest go first to Kapuskasing (180) and Cochrane (20).
How many jobs are there in Moonbeam?
The 2021 census found about 95 people with their usual workplace in Moonbeam, or 0.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 40 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Moonbeam?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Northeast economic region at 6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 15%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Moonbeam?
At $90,700 before tax in 2020, the median household in Moonbeam compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Moonbeam get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 5.6% walk; 12% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).