Photo: Providence Doucet providence · CC0More of Crabtree’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 71% of Canadian towns
The median household in Crabtree had $68,900 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. 970 people have their usual place of work in Crabtree, against 1,450 residents who travel to a job. 6% of the labour force in Crabtree was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Crabtree and work: the main findings
More people in work than most towns
With 79% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 60% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 2.9% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 6%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $68,900 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.
Jobs and income in Crabtree earn C+
Better than 39% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #313 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.
Crabtree at work: 79% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Joliette census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 60% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 60% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 64% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
Earnings at home in Crabtree: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 69% of Canadian towns.
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Joliette census division, 6 have a higher median. Crabtree’s median is 7% below the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
More go out than come in: the working day in Crabtree
For every person who comes in to work, about 2 residents travel out. 17% 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.
83% of Crabtree’s residents in work leave it to work; Joliette takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Saint-Paul (110).
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, 7.5% of Crabtree’s commuters get to work
Home was the workplace for 12%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
The trip to work from Crabtree runs about as long as the middle of Canadian towns: 26.4 minutes
Trips under 15 minutes: 31%, close to the middle of Quebec’s towns. 8.4% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of Quebec’s towns has 5.3%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, 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.
In the Joliette census division, 35% more people receive EI than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. At its peak, in January 2021, 4,040 people were on EI, 3.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 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. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Joliette 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).
Walking in Crabtree earns B+
Better than 68% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #294 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 724 Canadian towns of 3,000 to 5,700, Crabtree comes 430th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard Quebec | 3,018 | 85% | 4.5% | $83K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Havre-Saint-Pierre Quebec | 3,389 | 76% | 6.6% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 428 | Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan Quebec | 5,675 | 79% | 5.6% | $81K | C+ |
| 429 | Electoral Area L (Grasslands), Thompson-Nicola British Columbia | 3,543 | 80% | 6.8% | $81K | C+ |
| 430 | Crabtree Quebec | 4,237 | 79% | 6% | $69K | C+ |
| 431 | Shippagan New Brunswick | 3,073 | 73% | 11% | $60K | C+ |
| 432 | Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola British Columbia | 4,540 | 75% | 7.7% | $94K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 724 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Crabtree, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Crabtree and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crabtree | 79% | 6% | $69K | 26.4 min | C+ | B+ |
| Saint-Paul 4 km | 82% | 3.9% | $86K | 26.1 min | A− | C |
| Sainte-Marie-Salomé 5.1 km | 77% | 8.6% | $71K | 29.2 min | C | C− |
| Joliette 6.3 km | 67% | 8.4% | $53K | 22 min | D | A− |
| Saint-Liguori 7.4 km | 82% | 4.1% | $80K | 28.3 min | B | D |
| Saint-Jacques 7.4 km | 79% | 4.6% | $70K | 28.1 min | C+ | B+ |
| Saint-Charles-Borromée 8.9 km | 75% | 7.2% | $61K | 21.1 min | C+ | B+ |
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 Crabtree, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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 census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Crabtree
How do people in Crabtree get to work?
By car: 92% of commuters, 5.8% walk and 1.7% cycle; on census day 12% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Crabtree?
26.4 minutes is the average trip, with 31% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.4% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Crabtree work?
Only 17% work in Crabtree itself; the rest go first to Joliette (395) and Saint-Charles-Borromée (100).
How many jobs are there in Crabtree?
The 2021 census counted about 970 people working in Crabtree: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 83 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Crabtree?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Lanaudière economic region at 2.9%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 6%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Crabtree?
Crabtree’s middle household had $68,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).