Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Summerside are lower than in 82% of Canadian towns
74% of people aged 15 to 64 in Summerside had a job at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Most commutes from Summerside take well under an hour: the average is 15.6 minutes, and 3.6% take 60 minutes or longer. Summerside had an unemployment rate of 10% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What sets Summerside apart on jobs and income
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $63,200 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 6,840 jobs based in Summerside and 5,375 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 15.6 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.6% last an hour or longer. 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 Summerside: B−
Better than 52% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #8 of 12 on Prince Edward Island.
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.
Summerside households: $63,200 a year at the median
Against the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns ($82,000), Summerside’s median is 23% below. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Each working day, Summerside’s workforce swells by 23%
Each resident commuting out of Summerside is matched by about 2 coming in. 71% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Summerside
A quarter-hour or less for 70% of commuters, against 40% in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 13.5 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.
3,045 people come into Summerside to work, most from Kensington, Part 1 and Wellington
- Kensington, Part 1490
- Wellington210
- Charlottetown200
- Miscouche165
- Kensington155
- Kinkora145
- Miscouche145
- Malpeque Bay130
- New London120
- Borden105
- Kensington, Part 1350
- Miscouche265
- Charlottetown180
- Borden-Carleton165
- Kensington90
- Kinkora60
- Enfield45
- Stanley Bridge, Hope River, Bayview, Cavendish and North Rustico35
- Bedeque and Area35
- Wellington35
45% of the people who work in Summerside live outside it, 490 of them in Kensington, Part 1, 11 km away. Outbound, Kensington, Part 1 takes the most: 350 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Summerside
A smaller share in work than in 54% of Canadian towns.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 61%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 55% of residents 15 and over were in work. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Summerside gets to work without a car for 5.5% of commuters
The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 14%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns: 4.7% against 1.9%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Prince census division run 5% below their 2019 level
The highest month was February 2021: 8,480 people, 1.7 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 10.5 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number 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).
Summerside grades B+ for walkability
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Summerside places 198th of 482 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 13,300 to 25,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 196 | L'Assomption Quebec | 25,126 | 81% | 5.1% | $87K | B− |
| 197 | Val-des-Monts Quebec | 14,473 | 78% | 6% | $102K | B− |
| 198 | Summerside Prince Edward Island | 19,006 | 74% | 10% | $63K | B− |
| 199 | Lachine-Ouest Quebec | 15,315 | 77% | 6.3% | $85K | B− |
| 200 | Dunbar-Southlands British Columbia | 21,117 | 66% | 8.8% | $131K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 482 | Oakridge Ontario | 13,913 | 51% | 21% | $60K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Summerside, and others among Prince Edward Island’s towns.
Work next door to Summerside
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerside | 74% | 10% | $63K | 15.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Miscouche 6.3 km | 81% | 6.7% | $83K | 19 min | A | B |
| Kensington, Part 1 11.3 km | 80% | 12% | $86K | 19.4 min | A | D |
| Kensington 12 km | 74% | 8.7% | $66K | 20.6 min | C+ | A |
| Kinkora 13.9 km | 82% | 9.9% | $79K | 22.3 min | A− | C− |
| Malpeque Bay 15.4 km | 83% | 12% | $81K | 21.6 min | A | D− |
| Wellington 18.2 km | 85% | 9.2% | $81K | 28 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 Summerside, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Summerside
How long is the commute from Summerside?
About 15.6 minutes on average, with 70% under a quarter-hour and 3.6% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Summerside work?
Most stay: 71% work in Summerside. The rest go first to Kensington, Part 1 (350) and Miscouche (265).
How many jobs are there in Summerside?
Some 6,840 people worked in Summerside at the 2021 census: 1.3 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 590 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Summerside?
About 10%, by the census of May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Summerside?
At $63,200 before tax in 2020, the median household in Summerside compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Summerside get to work?
Driving takes 93% of commuters to work, 0.2% take public transit, 4.7% walk and 0.6% cycle, and on census day 14% of those in work were at 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).