Photo: Wscaswell · CC BY-SA 3.0More of Brigham’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 94% of Canadian towns
Before tax, the typical household in Brigham brought in $75,600 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. 240 people have their usual place of work in Brigham, against 765 residents who travel to a job. Brigham had an unemployment rate of 5.8% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Jobs and income in Brigham: what the figures say
More people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 64% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 86%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 5.8% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 4.3%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Brigham earns B+ for jobs and income
Better than 73% 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.
86% of working-age people in Brigham have jobs
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Brome-Missisquoi census division, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 62% in October 2026. 68% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Counting retirees, 64% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
More workers leave Brigham each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 4 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 7.3% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
93% of Brigham’s residents in work leave it to work; Cowansville takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Cowansville (50).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Earnings at home in Brigham: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 53% of Canadian towns.
That puts Brigham 2% above the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. 2 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Brome-Missisquoi census division have a higher median. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
1% of commuters from Brigham go without a car
20% worked at home on census day, about the same as in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 96% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Brigham average 25.2 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 22.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 29%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. An hour or more: 7.3% of commuters, above the 5.3% in the middle of Quebec’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.
49% more people are on EI in the Brome-Missisquoi census division than in 2019
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 3,320 people, 3.7 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 3.3 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Brome-Missisquoi census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walkability in Brigham: graded D
Better than 15% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Brigham, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brigham | 86% | 5.8% | $76K | 25.2 min | B+ | D |
| Cowansville 6.2 km | 75% | 6.1% | $59K | 20.1 min | C+ | B+ |
| Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby 8.3 km | 84% | 2.6% | $95K | 24 min | A | C− |
| Dunham 10.9 km | 87% | 4.4% | $77K | 23.6 min | A− | C− |
| Bromont 12.1 km | 82% | 4.6% | $100K | 29.1 min | A− | B− |
| Farnham 13.9 km | 80% | 5.6% | $68K | 26 min | C+ | B+ |
| Ange-Gardien 15.1 km | 89% | 3.3% | $80K | 25.9 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 Brigham, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Brigham
How do people in Brigham get to work?
96% of commuters go by car, 1% cycle. On census day 20% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Brigham?
On average 25.2 minutes; 29% take under 15 minutes and 7.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Brigham work?
7.3% work in Brigham itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Cowansville (240), then Granby (165).
How many jobs are there in Brigham?
About 240 people had their usual place of work in Brigham at the 2021 census, 0.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 65 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Brigham?
The 2021 census found 5.8% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Montérégie economic region, is 4.3% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Brigham?
At $75,600 before tax in 2020, the median household in Brigham compares with $85,900 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).