Photo: GTD Aquitaine · Public domainWorking-age people in Peterborough are less likely to have a job than in 83% of Canadian towns
Commutes from Peterborough average 21.1 minutes, and 6.5% take an hour or more. The median household in Peterborough had $71,500 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. 15% of the labour force in Peterborough was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Peterborough
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 49% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 66%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 7.1% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 15%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $71,500 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 28,180 jobs based in Peterborough and 22,605 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 21.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.5% 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.
Jobs & income in Peterborough: graded C
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #525 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Peterborough: 66%
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Peterborough census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 49% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 58% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 57% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
How Peterborough’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 62% of Canadian towns.
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Peterborough census division, 7 have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Peterborough is 22% below it. 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).
Workers pour into Peterborough: 19% more on a working day
Each resident commuting out of Peterborough is matched by about 2 coming in. 77% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Peterborough
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 52%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 19.6 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
10,842 people come into Peterborough to work, most from Bridgenorth and Lindsay
- Bridgenorth2,340
- Lindsay1,700
- Douro-Dummer1,090
- Otonabee-South Monaghan1,055
- Millbrook1,010
- Norwood515
- Bowmanville365
- Campbellford330
- Havelock310
- Trent Lakes280
- Bridgenorth990
- Millbrook770
- Lindsay600
- Otonabee-South Monaghan435
- Bowmanville375
- Toronto300
- Douro-Dummer180
- Oshawa175
- Cobourg140
- Whitby130
38% of the people who work in Peterborough live outside it, 2,340 of them in Bridgenorth, 12 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Bridgenorth (990).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Peterborough gets to work without a car for 13% of commuters
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 7.7% against 3.2%. The car takes 85% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 21% worked at home on census day, about the same as in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 3.7%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
25% more people are on EI in the Peterborough census division than in 2019
The highest month was January 2021: 7,670 people, 2.9 times the 2019 level. That is about 4.2 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 4%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Peterborough 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 Peterborough: A+
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #295 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 68,500 to 132,100, Peterborough ranks 37th of 44 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 2 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 77% | 9.1% | $118K | A |
| 3 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 68% | 11% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 66% | 13% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Sault Ste. Marie Ontario | 81,182 | 66% | 13% | $73K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 71% | 13% | $119K | C |
| 36 | Saint John New Brunswick | 79,371 | 69% | 11% | $63K | C |
| 37 | Peterborough Ontario | 97,834 | 66% | 15% | $72K | C |
| 38 | Brantford Ontario | 123,521 | 69% | 12% | $79K | C |
| 39 | Norfolk County Ontario | 75,618 | 71% | 10% | $82K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 44 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Peterborough, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Around Peterborough: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peterborough | 66% | 15% | $72K | 21.1 min | C | A+ |
| Otonabee-South Monaghan 11.3 km | 74% | 9.2% | $96K | 28.7 min | B− | C− |
| Bridgenorth 11.9 km | 75% | 11% | $96K | 28.3 min | B− | C+ |
| Millbrook 16.1 km | 76% | 9.2% | $110K | 30.7 min | B | C+ |
| Douro-Dummer 18 km | 75% | 9% | $96K | 30.9 min | C+ | C− |
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 Peterborough, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. 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.
- 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. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Peterborough
How many jobs are there in Peterborough?
About 28,180 people had their usual place of work in Peterborough at the 2021 census, 1.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 2,547 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Peterborough?
At the 2021 census 15% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Peterborough metro area, gives 7.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Peterborough?
The median household in Peterborough had $71,500 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Peterborough get to work?
85% of commuters go by car, 3.7% take public transit, 7.7% walk and 1.4% cycle. On census day 21% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Peterborough?
On average 21.1 minutes; 52% take under 15 minutes and 6.5% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Peterborough work?
77% work in Peterborough itself; of those who leave, the most go to Bridgenorth (990), then Millbrook (770).
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).