Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in Nipigon are less likely to have a job than in 81% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Nipigon had more than $73,500 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. The average trip to work from Nipigon is 19 minutes; 12% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. 14% of the labour force in Nipigon was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What Nipigon’s work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 67% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 46%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 14% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 2.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 520 jobs based in Nipigon and 370 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 19 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 12% last an hour or longer. 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.
On jobs and income, Nipigon grades C+
Better than 41% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In Nipigon, 67% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Thunder Bay census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 54%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 46% of residents 15 and over were in work. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Workers pour into Nipigon: 34% more on a working day
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Nipigon. Of those who commute, 73% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 19 minutes, commutes from Nipigon are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 71%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 22.1 minutes. 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.
252 people come into Nipigon to work, most from Red Rock and Thunder Bay
- Red Rock95
- Thunder Bay65
- Dorion20
- Lake Helen 53A20
- Thunder Bay, Unorganized20
- Shuniah10
- Thunder Bay30
- Lake Helen 53A20
- Red Rock10
- Terrace Bay10
- Geraldton10
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Nipigon
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
5 of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in the Thunder Bay census division have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Nipigon is 20% below it. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 7% of commuters in Nipigon
89% drive to work, more than the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 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).
In the Thunder Bay census division, the count on EI is close to where it was in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. The count topped out in April 2021 at 8,970 people, 2.6 times the 2019 average.
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). Nipigon doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Thunder Bay census division.
On getting around on foot, Nipigon grades A−
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Nipigon: the places around it
Distances here run 77–97 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Nipigon.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nipigon | 67% | 14% | $74K | 19 min | C+ | A− |
| Shuniah 76.8 km | 76% | 8.5% | $111K | 30.6 min | B | D |
| Schreiber 77 km | 65% | 9.6% | $76K | 14 min | B− | B+ |
| Terrace Bay 89.3 km | 67% | 9% | $87K | 12.9 min | B+ | A− |
| Thunder Bay, Unorganized 91.8 km | 67% | 11% | $82K | 35.9 min | D | D |
| Thunder Bay 97.2 km | 68% | 11% | $78K | 17.2 min | B− | 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 Nipigon, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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 Nipigon
What is the unemployment rate in Nipigon?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 14% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Northwest economic region at 2.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Nipigon?
At $73,500 before tax in 2020, the median household in Nipigon compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Nipigon get to work?
Driving takes 89% of commuters to work, 7% walk, and on census day 12% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Nipigon?
About 19 minutes on average, with 71% under a quarter-hour and 12% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Nipigon work?
73% work in Nipigon itself; of those who leave, the most go to Thunder Bay (30), then Lake Helen 53A (20).
How many jobs are there in Nipigon?
Some 520 people worked in Nipigon at the 2021 census: 1.4 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 60 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).