Photo: DomLemLali · CC BY-SA 4.0A larger share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Farnham than in 74% of Canadian towns
In 2020, a household at the middle of Farnham had $67,600 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. 2,500 people have their usual place of work in Farnham, against 3,580 residents who travel to a job. Unemployment in Farnham stood at 5.6% on census day 2021, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Farnham: what the figures say
More people in work than most towns
With 80% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 61% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 5.6% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 4.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $67,600 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. 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 & income in Farnham: graded C+
Better than 42% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #301 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.
Work for 80% of 15-to-64s in Farnham
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 61%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 62% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 65%. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
What households in Farnham earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 72% of Canadian towns.
Farnham’s median is 9% below the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). 3 of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in the Brome-Missisquoi census division have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
A commuter town: Farnham sends out more workers than it takes in
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. 37% 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.
63% of Farnham’s residents in work leave it to work; Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Granby, with 190.
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 Farnham work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
6.1% of commuters from Farnham go without a car
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 11% against 21%. Transit takes 0.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters.
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.
The trip to work from Farnham runs about as long as the middle of Canadian towns: 26 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 23.1 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 34% of commuters, against 31% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
49% more people are on EI in the Brome-Missisquoi census division than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.3 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,320 people on EI, 3.7 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Farnham doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Brome-Missisquoi census division.
On getting around on foot, Farnham grades B+
Better than 69% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #286 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Farnham next to Canadian towns of 7,900 to 15,300: 392nd of 660 on 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 Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 4 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Boischatel Quebec | 9,250 | 85% | 4.8% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | L'Aéroport Quebec | 13,630 | 84% | 5.2% | $90K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 390 | Alnwick/Haldimand Ontario | 8,197 | 75% | 12% | $103K | C+ |
| 391 | New Springbrook Ontario | 12,804 | 72% | 11% | $140K | C+ |
| 392 | Farnham Quebec | 11,315 | 80% | 5.6% | $68K | C+ |
| 393 | Strathcona Alberta | 8,283 | 79% | 12% | $65K | C+ |
| 394 | Shediac New Brunswick | 9,849 | 72% | 10% | $67K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 660 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Farnham, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Next to Farnham: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnham | 80% | 5.6% | $68K | 26 min | C+ | B+ |
| Sainte-Sabine 5.3 km | 81% | 3.3% | $91K | 25.9 min | A− | C− |
| Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville 8.5 km | 95% | 1.8% | $80K | 28.1 min | B+ | B− |
| Ange-Gardien 9.1 km | 89% | 3.3% | $80K | 25.9 min | A− | C+ |
| Saint-Alexandre 13 km | 85% | 3.7% | $90K | 29.2 min | A− | B− |
| Brigham 13.9 km | 86% | 5.8% | $76K | 25.2 min | B+ | D |
| Saint-Césaire 14.7 km | 86% | 5.4% | $73K | 23 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 Farnham, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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 Farnham
How long is the commute from Farnham?
26 minutes is the average trip, with 34% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.6% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Farnham work?
Only 37% work in Farnham itself; the rest go first to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (375) and Cowansville (265).
How many jobs are there in Farnham?
The 2021 census counted about 2,500 people working in Farnham: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 260 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Farnham?
The census put unemployment at 5.6% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Montérégie economic region at 4.3%.
What is the average household income in Farnham?
The census puts Farnham at $67,600 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Farnham get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 0.2% take public transit, 5% walk and 0.9% cycle; on census day 11% of those in work worked from 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, 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).