Photo: Thelma A Phillips · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Alberton earn less than those in 97% of Canadian towns
Jobs were held by 71% of people aged 15 to 64 in Alberton in 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Commutes from Alberton average 18 minutes, and 2.1% take an hour or more. Of everyone in Alberton working or looking for work in May 2021, 10% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Jobs and income in Alberton: what the figures say
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $53,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
500 people work in Alberton and 385 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 18 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.1% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Alberton: C
Better than 26% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
Household income in Alberton: $53,500 at the median
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Prince census division has a higher median. That puts Alberton 35% below the median of Prince Edward Island’s towns, $82,000. 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 a working day Alberton gains 27% in workers
385 residents of Alberton had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 500 people had theirs in Alberton, wherever they lived.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Alberton has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 18 minutes
Trips under 15 minutes: 46%, more than the 40% in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 16.8 minutes. The middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns averages 23.3 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
398 people come into Alberton to work, most from Alberton (Prince Edward Island part) and Tignish
- Alberton (Prince Edward Island part)140
- Tignish90
- O'Leary55
- Northport30
- Miminegash30
- Lot 11 and Area10
- O'Leary10
- St. Felix10
- St. Louis10
- West Point10
- O'Leary90
- Alberton (Prince Edward Island part)55
- Northport35
- Tignish30
- O'Leary25
- Tignish25
- Lot 11 and Area10
- Enfield10
Of everyone working in Alberton, 80% come in from elsewhere; 140 make the 4 km trip from Alberton (Prince Edward Island part). O'Leary is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 90 of them.
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 Alberton work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Work and the working-age population of Alberton
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Prince census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 52% were working. 57% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
Alberton gets to work without a car for 4.2% of commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 93% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 8.7%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
5% fewer people are on EI in the Prince census division than in 2019
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 8,480 people on EI, 1.7 times 2019’s average. Roughly 10.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 12%.
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 Prince 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 Alberton: B+
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How the places next to Alberton compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberton | 71% | 10% | $54K | 18 min | C | B+ |
| Alberton 4.4 km | 80% | 13% | $83K | 19.8 min | A | D |
| Miminegash 11.7 km | 61% | 21% | $65K | 24.2 min | D | D− |
| O'Leary 15.4 km | 70% | 18% | $69K | 23.5 min | C | D |
| O'Leary 16.4 km | 67% | 8.5% | $46K | 18.9 min | C− | B+ |
| Tignish 18.8 km | 81% | 15% | $87K | 16.4 min | A+ | 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 Alberton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about work in Alberton
How long is the commute from Alberton?
18 minutes is the average trip, with 46% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.1% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Alberton work?
Only 27% work in Alberton itself; the rest go first to O'Leary (90) and Alberton (Prince Edward Island part) (55).
How many jobs are there in Alberton?
The 2021 census counted about 500 people working in Alberton: 1.3 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 85 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Alberton?
The 2021 census found 10% of those working or looking without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Alberton?
The census puts Alberton at $53,500 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Alberton get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 4.2% walk; on census day 8.7% of those in work worked from home.
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, 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).