Photo: Jfvoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Wellesley has higher household incomes than 96% of Canadian towns
In Wellesley, 84% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Working at home: 38% of its workers, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Unemployment in Wellesley stood at 3.9% on census day 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work numbers behind Wellesley
More people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 84% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 68%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.5% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 3.9%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $119,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Many work from home
38% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting 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 Wellesley: graded A+
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #7 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.
How many in Wellesley were working in 2021
All 42 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Waterloo census division have 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 68%. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 64% in October 2026. 71% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
Half the households in Wellesley had more than $119,100 in 2020
That puts Wellesley 30% above the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. Of the 42 other places of 2,500 or more in the Waterloo census division, 7 have a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 12% of Wellesley’s commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The middle of Ontario’s towns has 3.2% walking; here, 10% do.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Wellesley empties a little on a working day
2,845 residents of Wellesley had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 2,570 people had theirs in Wellesley, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 32% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
68% of Wellesley’s residents in work leave it to work; Waterloo takes the most
- Elmira365
- Kitchener245
- Drayton230
- Perth East230
- Waterloo145
- Listowel110
- New Hamburg90
- Palmerston35
- Mount Forest30
- Fergus20
- Waterloo455
- Elmira385
- Kitchener335
- Cambridge145
- New Hamburg140
- Guelph85
- Drayton80
- Perth East80
- Stratford45
- Ayr35
Of those coming in, Elmira supplies the most: 365.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Wellesley work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
23.7 minutes from Wellesley to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
An hour or more: 3.5% of commuters, under the 7.9% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.3 minutes. In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 33%, 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
47% more people are on EI in the Waterloo census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. The highest month was April 2021: 28,950 people, 3 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Waterloo census division, Wellesley included.
Everyday places on foot in Wellesley: A−
Better than 82% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #472 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 8,700 to 16,800, Wellesley ranks 7th of 620 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| 4 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| 5 | Boischatel Quebec | 9,250 | 85% | 4.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 6 | Martensville Saskatchewan | 11,808 | 82% | 5.2% | $116K | A+ |
| 7 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 8 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| 9 | L'Aéroport Quebec | 13,630 | 84% | 5.2% | $90K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | West Perth Ontario | 10,080 | 88% | 5% | $92K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | East Zorra-Tavistock Ontario | 8,710 | 86% | 5.7% | $100K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 620 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Wellesley, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Wellesley
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellesley | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | 23.7 min | A+ | A− |
| New Hamburg 14.8 km | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | 24.4 min | A | B |
| Perth East 16.6 km | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | 22.2 min | A+ | B |
| Waterloo 16.9 km | 68% | 12% | $94K | 22.8 min | B | A+ |
| Elmira 17.9 km | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | 21.8 min | A+ | B+ |
| Highland West 18.2 km | 72% | 12% | $109K | 24.6 min | B | A− |
| Westmount 19 km | 76% | 9.2% | $88K | 24.7 min | B+ | 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 Wellesley, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Wellesley
Where do people in Wellesley work?
32% work in Wellesley itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Waterloo (455), then Elmira (385).
How many jobs are there in Wellesley?
Some 2,570 people worked in Wellesley at the 2021 census: 0.9 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 525 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Wellesley?
The census put unemployment at 3.9% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie economic region at 6.5%.
What is the average household income in Wellesley?
Before tax, half the households in Wellesley had more than $119,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Wellesley get to work?
Driving takes 84% of commuters to work, 10% walk and 1.4% cycle, and on census day 38% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Wellesley?
About 23.7 minutes on average, with 33% under a quarter-hour and 3.5% at 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).