Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in Riverside are less likely to have a job than in 88% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 18% of people in Riverside who wanted a job had none, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Riverside spend 19.9 minutes on the way to work on average (26 in the middle of Canadian towns). Before tax, the typical household in Riverside brought in $73,700 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Work in Riverside: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 64% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 45% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 18% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 7.5% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 19.9 minutes on average, against 26 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Riverside: C
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #485 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.
In Riverside, 64% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 22 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Essex census division, 12 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 45%. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 59% in October 2026. 56% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. 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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 3.3% of Riverside’s commuters
Few ride transit: 1.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Only 15% worked at home on census day, against 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).
Earnings at home in Riverside: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Riverside’s median is 20% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). 15 of the 22 other places of 2,500+ in the Essex census division 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).
In the Essex census division, 37% more people receive EI than in 2019
At its peak, in April 2021, 30,890 people were on EI, 4.1 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.5 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Essex census division, with Riverside one part of it.
On getting around on foot, Riverside grades B
Better than 62% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #606 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 15,300 to 29,500, Riverside ranks 222nd of 401 for jobs and income
| # | 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 | Cap-Rouge Quebec | 17,139 | 81% | 4.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Wilmot Ontario | 22,890 | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Thames Centre Ontario | 15,475 | 80% | 7.7% | $113K | A |
| 23 | North Perth Ontario | 18,168 | 83% | 5.7% | $84K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 220 | Little Portugal Ontario | 15,669 | 75% | 13% | $87K | C+ |
| 221 | Credit Valley Ontario | 18,078 | 70% | 13% | $146K | C+ |
| 222 | Riverside Ontario | 21,828 | 64% | 18% | $74K | C |
| 223 | Vieux-Moulin Quebec | 15,935 | 76% | 9.7% | $53K | C |
| 224 | Wîhkwêntôwin Alberta | 19,050 | 76% | 12% | $64K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 401 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Riverside, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How Riverside compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside | 64% | 18% | $74K | 19.9 min | C | B |
| East Windsor 2.6 km | 57% | 21% | $64K | 19.6 min | C− | B+ |
| East Riverside 3.1 km | 64% | 17% | $96K | 20.8 min | B | C+ |
| Fontainebleau 3.2 km | 58% | 21% | $70K | 18.1 min | C | B |
| Forest Glade 3.5 km | 56% | 20% | $76K | 19.2 min | C | B |
| South Walkerville 5.5 km | 67% | 18% | $86K | 16.5 min | B | A− |
| Walkerville 5.7 km | 54% | 20% | $60K | 20.4 min | D | 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 Riverside, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not 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.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages stop at the municipality, so Windsor’s page carries them; Riverside’s own figures sum its dissemination areas.
Questions about work in Riverside
How do people in Riverside get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 1.6% take public transit, 1.6% walk and 0.1% cycle; 15% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Riverside?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Windsor’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
What is the unemployment rate in Riverside?
At the 2021 census 18% 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 metro area, gives 7.5% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Riverside?
Before tax, half the households in Riverside had more than $73,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).