Photo: Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC0Work, pay and getting to work in West Lorne
Half the households in West Lorne had more than $75,300 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. The average trip to work from West Lorne is 30.6 minutes; 8.8% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. With 73% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, West Lorne matches the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in West Lorne
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 73% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 54%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 8.8% 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.
West Lorne grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 20% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #651 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.
The length of the trip to work in West Lorne
Timed exactly, the average is 27.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 34%, 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.
West Lorne is quieter on a working day than at night
1,480 residents of West Lorne had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,110 people had theirs in West Lorne, wherever they lived.
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 41% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
59% of West Lorne’s residents in work leave it to work; London takes the most
- London360
- Dutton160
- Chatham90
- St. Thomas85
- Glencoe55
- Strathroy30
- Woodstock25
- Newbury25
- Central Elgin20
Coming the other way, Chatham sends the most (145).
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 West Lorne work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Work and the working-age population of West Lorne
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Elgin census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 58% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 60%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 54%: many residents are past working age. 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.
Earnings at home in West Lorne: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 54% of Canadian towns.
5 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Elgin census division have a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), West Lorne’s median is 18% below. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
7.4% of commuters from West Lorne go without a car
20% worked at home on census day, about the same as in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 92% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
31% more people are on EI in the Elgin census division than in 2019
That works out to around 4.7 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 4,960 people on EI, 2.7 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). West Lorne doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Elgin census division.
West Lorne earns B for walkability
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #614 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 3,900 to 7,500, West Lorne ranks 584th of 700 for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 582 | East Angus Quebec | 4,261 | 72% | 6.4% | $60K | C− |
| 583 | Blake-Jones Ontario | 7,494 | 67% | 13% | $90K | C− |
| 584 | West Elgin Ontario | 5,566 | 73% | 9.4% | $75K | C− |
| 585 | Kilkenny Alberta | 5,481 | 60% | 15% | $83K | C− |
| 586 | Simonds New Brunswick | 4,263 | 69% | 11% | $80K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 700 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of West Lorne, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around West Lorne
West Lorne has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 14–37 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Lorne | 73% | 9.4% | $75K | 30.6 min | C− | B |
| Dutton 13.8 km | 79% | 9.3% | $89K | 30.8 min | B− | B− |
| Glencoe 20 km | 74% | 9.8% | $80K | 31.5 min | C− | B− |
| Southwold 30.7 km | 78% | 12% | $105K | 23.6 min | A | C− |
| Brooke-Alvinston 33.9 km | 75% | 9.2% | $81K | 30 min | C | C− |
| Dawn-Euphemia 36.7 km | 80% | 7.8% | $82K | 30.5 min | B− | D |
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 West Lorne, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts West Lorne as part of West Elgin, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in West Lorne
How do people in West Lorne get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 7.4% walk; 20% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from West Lorne?
The average commute is 30.6 minutes; 34% of trips take under 15 minutes and 8.8% an hour or more.
Where do people in West Lorne work?
Only 41% work in West Lorne itself; the rest go first to London (360) and Dutton (160).
How many jobs are there in West Lorne?
The 2021 census found about 1,110 people with their usual workplace in West Lorne, or 0.8 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 162 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in West Lorne?
At the 2021 census 9.4% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the London economic region, gives 7.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in West Lorne?
The median household in West Lorne had $75,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).