Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Sarnia than in 85% of Canadian towns
Getting to work from Sarnia takes 17.2 minutes on average, an hour or more for 2.7%. Before tax, the typical household in Sarnia brought in $77,800 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 13% of Sarnia’s labour force, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Sarnia at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
66% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 48%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 13% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 7.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
More jobs than the typical town
21,425 people work in Sarnia and 20,515 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 17.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.7% take an hour or more. 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.
Sarnia earns B− for jobs and income
Better than 49% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #308 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.
Sarnia at work: 66% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lambton census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 48%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 57% in October 2026. Working or looking, 55% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
As many come into Sarnia to work as leave
The job is inside the municipality for 74% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Sarnia
Timed exactly, the average is 15.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 56%, 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.
6,203 people come into Sarnia to work, most from Corunna and Plympton-Wyoming
- Corunna1,880
- Plympton-Wyoming1,130
- Petrolia600
- Chatham565
- Point Edward430
- Forest295
- Enniskillen265
- London205
- Strathroy125
- Watford115
- Corunna1,750
- Point Edward1,005
- Petrolia545
- Sarnia 45345
- London285
- Plympton-Wyoming180
- Chatham165
- Strathroy155
- Forest150
- Enniskillen125
Of everyone working in Sarnia, 29% come in from elsewhere; 1,880 make the 20 km trip from Corunna. Outbound, Corunna takes the most: 1,750 people.
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 Sarnia
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 51% of Canadian towns.
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Lambton census division has a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Sarnia’s median is 15% 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 foot, by bike, bus or train: 7% of Sarnia’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 2.1%, 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).
20% more people are on EI in the Lambton census division than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.6 receive EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 8%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 7,680 people on EI, 2.9 times 2019’s 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Lambton census division, with Sarnia one part of it.
The Walkability grade for Sarnia: A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #501 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Sarnia is 25th among 45 Canadian towns of 56,400 to 108,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 81% | 6.2% | $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 |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Halton Hills Ontario | 68,265 | 76% | 9.7% | $127K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 77% | 6.7% | $105K | B− |
| 24 | Chilliwack British Columbia | 105,520 | 76% | 6.6% | $85K | B− |
| 25 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 66% | 13% | $78K | B− |
| 26 | Whitchurch-Stouffville Ontario | 58,010 | 75% | 11% | $122K | B− |
| 27 | Wood Buffalo Alberta | 81,611 | 74% | 8.7% | $183K | B− |
| 28 | Sault Ste. Marie Ontario | 81,182 | 66% | 13% | $73K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Caledon Ontario | 90,201 | 74% | 11% | $133K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Sarnia, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Sarnia, compared
Sarnia has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 4–22 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarnia | 66% | 13% | $78K | 17.2 min | B− | A− |
| Point Edward 3.6 km | 73% | 13% | $85K | 15.3 min | A− | B− |
| Plympton-Wyoming 19.6 km | 75% | 7.5% | $109K | 23.9 min | A− | C |
| Corunna 19.8 km | 73% | 8.7% | $99K | 21.7 min | A− | B− |
| Petrolia 21.3 km | 71% | 9.1% | $86K | 20.6 min | B | B |
| Enniskillen 22.1 km | 82% | 5.2% | $105K | 23.5 min | A+ | 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 Sarnia, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Sarnia
Where do people in Sarnia work?
74% work in Sarnia itself; of those who leave, the most go to Corunna (1,750), then Point Edward (1,005).
How many jobs are there in Sarnia?
About 21,425 people had their usual place of work in Sarnia at the 2021 census, 1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 2,020 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Sarnia?
At the 2021 census 13% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Windsor-Sarnia economic region, gives 7.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Sarnia?
Before tax, half the households in Sarnia had more than $77,800 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Sarnia get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 2.1% take public transit, 4.1% walk and 0.8% cycle. On census day 16% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Sarnia?
On average 17.2 minutes; 56% take under 15 minutes and 2.7% take an hour or longer.
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).