Photo: Pierre Bona · CC BY-SA 3.0More of Compton’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 95% of Canadian towns
Compton is the usual workplace of 495 people, and 1,105 of its own residents commute to a job. Median household income in Compton was $74,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Unemployment in Compton stood at 4.6% on census day 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work numbers behind Compton
More people in work than most towns
With 86% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 67% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 4.6% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 4.2%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Compton earns A− for jobs and income
Better than 81% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #97 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
In Compton, 86% of the working-age population has a job
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 60% in October 2026. Working or looking, 70% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 67% were working. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Each working day, more people leave Compton for work than come in
For every person who comes in to work, about 4 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 23% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
77% of Compton’s residents in work leave it to work; Sherbrooke takes the most
- Sherbrooke75
- Coaticook75
- Martinville20
- Sainte-Edwidge-de-Clifton15
- Waterville15
- Cookshire-Eaton10
- Dixville10
- Hatley10
- Sherbrooke350
- Coaticook290
- Waterville90
- Magog30
- East Angus15
- Ayer's Cliff15
- Cookshire-Eaton10
- Ascot Corner10
- Dixville10
- Sainte-Edwidge-de-Clifton10
Of those coming in, Sherbrooke supplies the most: 75.
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 Compton work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Earnings at home in Compton: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 55% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Quebec’s towns, where the median is $74,100, Compton sits 1% above. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 6.8% of Compton’s commuters
Only 17% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 92% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
At 23.4 minutes, commutes from Compton are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 2.9% take an hour or more, against 5.3%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.5 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 32%, close to 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in the Coaticook census division run 58% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in January 2021, 950 people were on EI, 2.8 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Coaticook 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).
Compton earns B for walkability
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #321 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Compton is 157th of 714 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,500
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 155 | Stoke Quebec | 3,272 | 79% | 6% | $88K | A− |
| 156 | Deer Run Alberta | 3,652 | 77% | 12% | $105K | A− |
| 157 | Compton Quebec | 3,351 | 86% | 4.6% | $75K | A− |
| 158 | Wakefield New Brunswick | 2,749 | 81% | 7.3% | $71K | A− |
| 159 | La Ronge Saskatchewan | 2,668 | 67% | 12% | $95K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 714 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Compton, and others among Quebec’s towns.
The places around Compton, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compton | 86% | 4.6% | $75K | 23.4 min | A− | B |
| Waterville 7.5 km | 84% | 4.9% | $74K | 23 min | A− | B |
| Hatley 10.5 km | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | 21.8 min | A+ | C− |
| Coaticook 13.8 km | 84% | 4.1% | $62K | 19.2 min | B+ | A− |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 15.6 km | 81% | 4% | $91K | 27 min | A− | D− |
| Sherbrooke 18.3 km | 77% | 6.1% | $63K | 20.7 min | B− | A |
| Ayer's Cliff 18.4 km | 89% | 3.8% | $76K | 24.2 min | A− | A |
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 Compton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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 Compton
What is the unemployment rate in Compton?
At the 2021 census 4.6% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Sherbrooke metro area, gives 4.2% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Compton?
The census puts Compton at $74,800 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Compton get to work?
By car: 92% of commuters, 0.7% take public transit, 5.4% walk and 0.7% cycle; on census day 17% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Compton?
23.4 minutes is the average trip, with 32% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.9% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Compton work?
Only 23% work in Compton itself; the rest go first to Sherbrooke (350) and Coaticook (290).
How many jobs are there in Compton?
The 2021 census counted about 495 people working in Compton: 0.5 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 152 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).