Household incomes in Kingston top those of 91% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 5.8% of people in Kingston who wanted a job had none, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Kingston is the usual workplace of 15 people, and 370 of its own residents commute to a job. The 2021 census found 90% of working-age people in Kingston employed, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Kingston
More people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 90% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 72%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment stood at 5.8% on census day in 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $107,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Kingston grades A+
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Who in Kingston has a job
All 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Queens census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 72% of residents 15 and over were in work. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 76% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Half the households in Kingston had more than $107,300 in 2020
That puts Kingston 31% above the median of Prince Edward Island’s towns, $82,000. No other place of 2,500 or more in the Queens census division has 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).
Kingston empties a little on a working day
Each person commuting in is matched by about 179 residents going out. Of those who commute, 3.5% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
96% of Kingston’s residents in work leave it to work; Charlottetown takes the most
No other place sends enough people to work in Kingston to be counted.
- Charlottetown260
- Hampshire25
- Cornwall25
- Summerside15
- New Glasgow10
- Clyde River10
- Stratford10
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 0% of Kingston’s commuters get to work
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 97% of commuters. Working at home: 21%, close to 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).
24.4 minutes from Kingston to work, about the middle of Canadian towns
Trips under 15 minutes: 20%, fewer than the 40% in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns: 2%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 21.2 minutes. In the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns, the average commute is 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.
12% more people are on EI in the Queens census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. March 2021 was the busiest month, with 7,760 people on EI, 2.1 times 2019’s average. Roughly 5.4 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 beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Queens 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 Kingston: D−
Better than 2% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Kingston, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | 90% | 5.8% | $107K | 24.4 min | A+ | D− |
| Miltonvale Park 7.6 km | 72% | 11% | $81K | 20.4 min | B | D− |
| Cornwall 8.8 km | 80% | 7.8% | $86K | 19.7 min | A | C |
| West River 11.8 km | 82% | 7.3% | $94K | 26.3 min | A− | C− |
| Charlottetown 12.7 km | 75% | 9.7% | $66K | 15.6 min | B | A |
| Crapaud, Part 1 12.8 km | 79% | 9.3% | $82K | 28.1 min | B− | D |
| New Glasgow 13.3 km | 76% | 12% | $81K | 26.2 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 Kingston, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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.
- In work. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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 Kingston
Where do people in Kingston work?
Only 3.5% work in Kingston itself; the rest go first to Charlottetown (260) and Hampshire (25).
How many jobs are there in Kingston?
The 2021 census counted about 15 people working in Kingston: 0 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 30 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Kingston?
5.8% of the labour force was unemployed on census day in May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Kingston?
The census puts Kingston at $107,300 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Kingston get to work?
By car: 97% of commuters; on census day 21% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Kingston?
24.4 minutes is the average trip, with 20% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2% taking an hour or more.
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).