Photo: Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada · CC BY 2.0Work, pay and getting to work in Stirling
Getting to work from Stirling takes 28.6 minutes on average, an hour or more for 7.4%. When the 2021 census was taken, 8.4% of people in Stirling who wanted a job had none; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. 1,075 people have their usual place of work in Stirling, against 1,470 residents who travel to a job.
What Stirling’s work numbers say
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 74% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 55%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
8.4% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.7% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Stirling grades C for jobs and income
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #501 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.
Stirling empties a little on a working day
It sends out some 2 workers for every one it takes in. 20% 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.
80% of Stirling’s residents in work leave it to work; Belleville takes the most
Of those coming in, Quinte West supplies the most: 185.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Stirling: 74%
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Hastings census division, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 57% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 60% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Counting retirees, 55% 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.
What households earned in Stirling: $81,200 in 2020
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 59% of Canadian towns.
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Hastings census division, 2 have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Stirling is 11% below it. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walking, cycling or transit: 5.2% of Stirling’s commuters
Only 18% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.5% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
The length of the trip to work in Stirling
Only 24% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 26.8 minutes.
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.
26% more people are on EI in the Hastings census division than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.2 are on EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. April 2021 was the busiest month, with 7,740 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 beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Hastings 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 grade for Stirling: B
Better than 59% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #624 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Stirling is 498th of 717 Canadian towns of 3,800 to 7,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| 6 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| 7 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 496 | Country Hills Ontario | 4,561 | 70% | 14% | $77K | C |
| 497 | Inverness County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 5,138 | 73% | 14% | $66K | C |
| 498 | Stirling-Rawdon Ontario | 5,489 | 74% | 8.4% | $81K | C |
| 499 | Shippagan New Brunswick | 4,721 | 69% | 11% | $61K | C |
| 500 | La Sarre Quebec | 7,199 | 75% | 6% | $60K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 717 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Stirling, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs near Stirling: the places around it
The nearest places to Stirling with figures are 19–22 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling | 74% | 8.4% | $81K | 28.6 min | C | B |
| Campbellford 19.1 km | 71% | 10% | $73K | 30.7 min | D | B |
| Quinte West 19.6 km | 69% | 11% | $81K | 22.1 min | C+ | B− |
| Marmora 20.5 km | 58% | 14% | $63K | 36.8 min | D− | B |
| Centre Hastings 21.3 km | 69% | 10% | $77K | 30.3 min | C− | B− |
| Belleville 22.1 km | 66% | 12% | $74K | 19.9 min | C+ | 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 Stirling, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Stirling as part of Stirling-Rawdon, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Stirling
Where do people in Stirling work?
Only 20% work in Stirling itself; the rest go first to Belleville (460) and Quinte West (295).
How many jobs are there in Stirling?
The 2021 census counted about 1,075 people working in Stirling: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 144 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Stirling?
Two figures answer it: 8.4% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.7% for the Belleville - Quinte West metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Stirling?
At $81,200 before tax in 2020, the median household in Stirling compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Stirling get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 0.5% take public transit and 4.7% walk; on census day 18% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Stirling?
28.6 minutes is the average trip, with 24% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 7.4% taking an hour or more.
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).