Photo: JustSomePics · CC0Wingham has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 75% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 8.1% of people in Wingham who wanted a job had none, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Median household income in Wingham was $76,700 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Wingham spend 23.9 minutes on the way to work on average, and 9% need an hour or more.
Where Wingham stands out on work
More people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 80% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 58%. In work ↓
A local job centre
With 2,030 jobs based in Wingham and 1,725 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
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 Wingham: graded B+
Better than 67% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #174 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, household income.
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 Wingham, 80% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Huron census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 54% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 63% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 58%: many residents are past working age. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Every working day, Wingham’s workforce grows by 15%
Of those who commute, 45% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
1,255 people come into Wingham to work, most from Morris-Turnberry and Mildmay
- Morris-Turnberry185
- Listowel120
- Goderich100
- Kincardine85
- Clinton75
- Huron-Kinloss75
- Seaforth55
- Mildmay50
- Howick35
- Stratford25
62% of the people who work in Wingham live outside it, 335 of them in Morris-Turnberry, 6 km away. Morris-Turnberry is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 185 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Wingham earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 51% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Wingham is 16% below it. 7 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in the Huron census division have a higher median. 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: 13% of Wingham’s commuters
The car takes 86% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Home was the workplace for 15%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. On foot: 12% of commuters, well above the 3.2% in the middle of Ontario’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Time on the road to work from Wingham
Trips under 15 minutes: 48%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 21.6 minutes. In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 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.
In the Huron census division, 22% more people receive EI than in 2019
That works out to around 3.7 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,400 people on EI, 2.4 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). Wingham doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Huron census division.
Wingham earns A for walkability
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #412 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 701 Canadian towns of 3,800 to 7,300, Wingham comes 220th on 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 218 | Roxton Pond Quebec | 4,884 | 83% | 6% | $79K | B+ |
| 219 | Horning Ontario | 4,587 | 75% | 14% | $121K | B+ |
| 220 | North Huron Ontario | 5,411 | 80% | 8.1% | $77K | B+ |
| 221 | Rockwood Manitoba | 4,554 | 79% | 7% | $74K | B+ |
| 222 | Pineview Ontario | 6,346 | 69% | 11% | $101K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 701 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Wingham, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Wingham
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wingham | 80% | 8.1% | $77K | 23.9 min | B+ | A |
| Morris-Turnberry 5.5 km | 89% | 4.8% | $86K | 24.3 min | A | D |
| Howick 18 km | 85% | 3.6% | $84K | 28.9 min | B+ | 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 Wingham, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Wingham as part of North Huron, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Wingham
What is the average household income in Wingham?
At $76,700 before tax in 2020, the median household in Wingham compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Wingham get to work?
Driving takes 86% of commuters to work, 12% walk and 0.7% cycle, and on census day 15% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Wingham?
About 23.9 minutes on average, with 48% under a quarter-hour and 9% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Wingham work?
45% work in Wingham itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Morris-Turnberry (185), then Listowel (120).
How many jobs are there in Wingham?
Some 2,030 people worked in Wingham at the 2021 census: 1.2 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 194 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Wingham?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region at 3.8%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 8.1%, against 9.9% 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).