Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Perth draws workers in: 3 jobs for every resident in work
Unemployment in Perth stood at 13% on census day 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Median household income in Perth was $63,600 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. 69% of people aged 15 to 64 in Perth had a job at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Perth
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 13% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 8%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $63,600 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
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, Perth grades C−
Better than 17% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #675 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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 Perth, 69% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lanark census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 41%: many residents are past working age. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 47% of residents that age. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
How Perth’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 81% of Canadian towns.
7 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Lanark census division have a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Perth’s median is 31% below. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
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, 4,949 people work in Perth, 2.5 times its working residents
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 6 to 1 in Perth. The job is inside the municipality for 62% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
3,564 people come into Perth to work, most from Drummond/North Elmsley and Tay Valley
- Ottawa205
- Smiths Falls125
- Carleton Place50
- Drummond/North Elmsley35
- Westport25
- Lanark Highlands25
- Beckwith15
- Chelsea10
- Brockville10
- Rideau Lakes10
79% of the people who work in Perth live outside it, 985 of them in Drummond/North Elmsley, 7 km away. Outbound, Ottawa takes the most: 205 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 16% of Perth’s commuters get to work
Working at home: 20%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. On foot: 14% of commuters, well above the 3.2% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 83% against 88%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
The trip to work from Perth runs about as long as the middle of Canadian towns: 24.3 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 20.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 51% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. An hour or more: 10% of commuters, above the 7.9% 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.
In the Lanark census division, 20% more people receive EI than in 2019
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,450 people on EI, 2.6 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 4.1 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%.
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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Lanark census division, with Perth one part of it.
On getting around on foot, Perth grades A+
Better than 97% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #272 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Perth is 617th of 703 Canadian towns of 4,900 to 9,400 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Alta Vista Ontario | 8,387 | 78% | 8.3% | $138K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 615 | Bay Roberts Newfoundland and Labrador | 6,407 | 63% | 14% | $72K | C− |
| 616 | Stephenville Newfoundland and Labrador | 6,840 | 54% | 17% | $50K | C− |
| 617 | Perth Ontario | 6,972 | 69% | 13% | $64K | C− |
| 618 | Burnaby Mountain British Columbia | 9,248 | 68% | 8.7% | $86K | C− |
| 619 | Bayham Ontario | 7,935 | 68% | 11% | $82K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 703 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Perth, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in and around Perth
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth | 69% | 13% | $64K | 24.3 min | C− | A+ |
| Drummond/North Elmsley 7 km | 78% | 7.2% | $97K | 27.2 min | B+ | D |
| Tay Valley 10.2 km | 70% | 11% | $90K | 29 min | C | C− |
| Smiths Falls 18.7 km | 67% | 10% | $61K | 25.6 min | D | 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 Perth, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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.
- 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 Perth
How long is the commute from Perth?
The average commute is 24.3 minutes; 51% of trips take under 15 minutes and 10% an hour or more.
Where do people in Perth work?
Most stay: 62% work in Perth. The rest go first to Ottawa (205) and Smiths Falls (125).
How many jobs are there in Perth?
The 2021 census found about 4,495 people with their usual workplace in Perth, or 3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 369 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Perth?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 13% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Ottawa economic region at 8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Perth?
Before tax, half the households in Perth had more than $63,600 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Perth get to work?
83% of commuters drive, 0.6% take public transit, 14% walk and 1.4% cycle; 20% 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).