Photo: Dwrite7841 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Port Perry have higher incomes than those in 91% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 8.5% of people in Port Perry who wanted a job had none, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. From Port Perry, the drive or ride to work averages 35 minutes, with 16% going an hour or longer. In Port Perry, 78% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
The work figures that set Port Perry apart
Higher incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $107,400 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 35 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 16% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Port Perry: B−
Better than 53% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #280 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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.
Half the households in Port Perry had more than $107,400 in 2020
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 or more in the Durham census division, 5 have a higher median. Port Perry’s median is 17% above the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). 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).
A longer commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 35 minutes from Port Perry
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 32.1 minutes. The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 26%, fewer 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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Port Perry
Of those who commute, 42% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
58% of Port Perry’s residents in work leave it to work; Oshawa takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Lindsay, with 695.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Port Perry were working in 2021
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Durham census division, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 62% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 62% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 57% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Leaving the car at home: 5.1% of commuters in Port Perry
Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 93% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Working at home: 26% here, 21% 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).
EI claims in the Durham census division run 44% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. At its peak, in February 2021, 38,290 people were on EI, 3.2 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.6 are on EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Durham census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Getting around Port Perry on foot earns B−
Better than 52% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #675 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Port Perry is 140th of 369 Canadian towns of 16,700 to 32,300
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Wilmot Ontario | 22,890 | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | North Perth Ontario | 18,168 | 83% | 5.7% | $84K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | Amherstburg Ontario | 27,509 | 71% | 12% | $98K | B− |
| 139 | Sunnyside British Columbia | 16,784 | 78% | 8.2% | $90K | B− |
| 140 | Scugog Ontario | 23,928 | 78% | 8.5% | $107K | B− |
| 141 | Clarence-Rockland Ontario | 30,375 | 77% | 6.5% | $107K | B− |
| 142 | Laurendeau Quebec | 27,321 | 79% | 6.5% | $84K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 369 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Port Perry, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in and around Port Perry
Port Perry has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 18–29 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Perry | 78% | 8.5% | $107K | 35 min | B− | B− |
| Uxbridge 17.9 km | 79% | 8.4% | $117K | 33.9 min | B | B |
| Oshawa 23.7 km | 64% | 15% | $86K | 32.3 min | D | A |
| Whitby 23.9 km | 71% | 12% | $123K | 33.3 min | C+ | A |
| Bowmanville 28.8 km | 73% | 11% | $113K | 31.3 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 Port Perry, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Port Perry as part of Scugog, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Port Perry
How long is the commute from Port Perry?
About 35 minutes on average, with 26% under a quarter-hour and 16% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Port Perry work?
42% work in Port Perry itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Oshawa (590), then Toronto (510).
How many jobs are there in Port Perry?
Some 5,225 people worked in Port Perry at the 2021 census: 0.9 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 780 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Port Perry?
The 2021 census found 8.5% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Toronto economic region, is 7.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Port Perry?
The census puts Port Perry at $107,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Port Perry get to work?
Driving takes 93% of commuters to work, 0.7% take public transit and 4.4% walk, and on census day 26% of those in work were at home.
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).