Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Three Rivers earn less than those in 81% of Canadian towns
12% of the labour force in Three Rivers was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The 2021 census found 68% of working-age people in Three Rivers employed, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 4.1% of workers in Three Rivers; the average is 24.9 minutes.
Work in Three Rivers, in a few figures
Fewer people in work than most towns
68% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 55%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $63,600 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
2,405 people work in Three Rivers and 2,190 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. 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.
Three Rivers earns D for jobs and income
Better than 14% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #2,244 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Who in Three Rivers has a job
A smaller share in work than in 78% of Canadian towns.
Counting retirees, 55% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. Working or looking, 63% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
$63,600 a year: the median household in Three Rivers
Three Rivers’ median is 22% below the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns ($82,000). CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
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, Three Rivers’ workforce swells by 8%
The job is inside the municipality for 59% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
1,119 people come into Three Rivers to work, most from Charlottetown and Murray River, Part 1
- Charlottetown155
- Murray River, Part 1140
- Stratford120
- Belfast90
- Vernon River90
- Souris75
- Central Kings45
- Morell35
- East River, Part 235
- Murray Harbour30
- Charlottetown435
- Vernon River55
- Cardigan50
- Belfast50
- Murray River, Part 130
- Souris30
- Stratford30
- Murray Harbour25
- Souris25
- Eastern Kings25
Of everyone working in Three Rivers, 47% come in from elsewhere; 155 make the 41 km trip from Charlottetown. Going the other way, Charlottetown is the biggest single destination (435).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2.9% of commuters in Three Rivers walk, cycle or take transit
Only 13% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How long the commute from Three Rivers takes
Timed exactly, the average is 22.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns, the average commute is 23.3 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 40%, close to the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns.
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.
About as many people are on EI in the Kings census division as in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 16.8 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 2%. The highest month was March 2021: 3,930 people, 1.6 times the 2019 level.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Kings 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).
Getting around Three Rivers on foot earns C+
Better than 39% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #3 of 12 on Prince Edward Island.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 6,500 to 12,600, Three Rivers ranks 593rd of 659 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Cornwall Prince Edward Island | 7,920 | 80% | 7.8% | $86K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 591 | Bendale South Ontario | 10,885 | 61% | 15% | $93K | D |
| 592 | Sheridan Ontario | 11,110 | 61% | 18% | $89K | D |
| 593 | Three Rivers Prince Edward Island | 9,322 | 68% | 12% | $64K | D |
| 594 | Pictou County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 6,575 | 68% | 13% | $70K | D |
| 595 | Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde Quebec | 6,671 | 74% | 8.3% | $58K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 659 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Three Rivers, and others among Prince Edward Island’s towns.
The places around Three Rivers, side by side
The nearest places to Three Rivers with figures are 16–27 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Rivers | 68% | 12% | $64K | 24.9 min | D | C+ |
| Murray River, Part 1 15.7 km | 70% | 15% | $76K | 27.9 min | C− | D− |
| Vernon River 20.9 km | 70% | 11% | $82K | 28.8 min | C− | C− |
| Belfast 24.3 km | 76% | 11% | $71K | 27.5 min | C | B− |
| Morell 25.6 km | 78% | 8% | $80K | 31.1 min | C+ | C− |
| East River, Part 1 27.3 km | 86% | 8.2% | $82K | 26.2 min | A− | D |
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 Three Rivers, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Three Rivers
Where do people in Three Rivers work?
59% work in Three Rivers itself; of those who leave, the most go to Charlottetown (435), then Vernon River (55).
How many jobs are there in Three Rivers?
About 2,405 people had their usual place of work in Three Rivers at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 359 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Three Rivers?
At the 2021 census, unemployment stood at 12%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Three Rivers?
Before tax, half the households in Three Rivers had more than $63,600 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Three Rivers get to work?
95% of commuters go by car, 0.5% take public transit and 2.4% walk. On census day 13% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Three Rivers?
On average 24.9 minutes; 40% take under 15 minutes and 4.1% take an hour or longer.
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).