Photo: Tier2Cell245 · CC BY 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Pembroke trails that of 89% of Canadian towns
6,085 people have their usual place of work in Pembroke, against 3,935 residents who travel to a job. Median household income in Pembroke was $63,100 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. For 3.4% of commuters in Pembroke, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 18.9 minutes.
What sets Pembroke apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 63% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 46% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $63,100 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 6,085 jobs based in Pembroke and 3,935 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 18.9 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.4% 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.
Pembroke earns C− for jobs and income
Better than 23% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #627 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.
63% of working-age people in Pembroke have jobs
None of the 15 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Renfrew census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 53% of residents that age. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 46% were working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 55% of the wider area’s adults in work. 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.
What households in Pembroke earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 82% of Canadian towns.
Of the 15 other places of 2,500 or more in the Renfrew census division, 14 have a higher median. Pembroke’s median is 31% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
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 Pembroke gains 46% in workers
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Pembroke. The job is inside the municipality for 55% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Pembroke
Timed exactly, the average is 17 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 55%, more than the 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
3,909 people come into Pembroke to work, most from Laurentian Valley and Petawawa
64% of the people who work in Pembroke live outside it, 1,410 of them in Laurentian Valley, 4 km away. Outbound, Petawawa takes the most: 555 people.
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 Pembroke work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
12% of commuters from Pembroke go without a car
On foot: 10% of commuters, well above the 3.2% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 86% drive to work, fewer than the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Only 13% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
EI claims in the Renfrew census division run 13% above their 2019 level
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. The highest month was April 2021: 5,690 people, 2.4 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.2 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 Renfrew 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).
Walking in Pembroke earns A
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #328 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Pembroke next to Canadian towns of 10,800 to 20,900: 424th of 555 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 422 | Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines Quebec | 15,904 | 75% | 6.2% | $80K | C− |
| 423 | Bathurst New Brunswick | 13,331 | 65% | 12% | $55K | C− |
| 424 | Pembroke Ontario | 15,479 | 63% | 12% | $63K | C− |
| 425 | Pelmo Park-Humberlea Ontario | 11,396 | 65% | 14% | $104K | C− |
| 426 | Selkirk Manitoba | 11,570 | 66% | 10% | $68K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 555 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Pembroke, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Around Pembroke: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pembroke | 63% | 12% | $63K | 18.9 min | C− | A |
| Laurentian Valley 4.1 km | 73% | 9.1% | $94K | 22.4 min | B+ | C− |
| L'Isle-aux-Allumettes 9.9 km | 74% | 5.5% | $69K | 31.9 min | D | D |
| Petawawa 14.3 km | 71% | 6.3% | $102K | 16.5 min | A | 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 Pembroke, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Pembroke
How long is the commute from Pembroke?
The average commute is 18.9 minutes; 55% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.4% an hour or more.
Where do people in Pembroke work?
Most stay: 55% work in Pembroke. The rest go first to Petawawa (555) and Laurentian Valley (495).
How many jobs are there in Pembroke?
The 2021 census found about 6,085 people with their usual workplace in Pembroke, or 1.6 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 501 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Pembroke?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kingston-Pembroke economic region at 6.8%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 12%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Pembroke?
The median household in Pembroke had $63,100 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Pembroke get to work?
86% of commuters drive, 10% walk and 1.1% cycle; 13% 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).