Photo: Chicoutimi · CC BY 3.0Hampstead has some of the highest household incomes of any Canadian town
At the 2021 census, 77% of Hampstead’s 15-to-64s were in work, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Hampstead: 600, for 1,895 residents with a usual workplace. Home was the workplace for 38% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%.
Where Hampstead stands out on work
Higher incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $150,500 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Many work from home
38% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Hampstead grades A−
Better than 85% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #77 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Household income in Hampstead: $150,500 at the median
No other place of 2,500 or more in the Montréal census division has a higher median. Against the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100), Hampstead’s median is 103% above. 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).
Before tax, 2020: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
Without a car, 17% of Hampstead’s commuters get to work
More people take transit to work here than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 12% against 1.5%. The car takes 79% of commuters here, under the 90% in the middle of Quebec’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Hampstead is quieter on a working day than at night
It sends out some 4 workers for every one it takes in. Of those who commute, 11% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
89% of Hampstead’s residents in work leave it to work; Montréal takes the most
- Montréal1,190
- Mont-Royal160
- Westmount110
- Côte-Saint-Luc80
- Laval55
- Longueuil20
- Dorval20
- Pointe-Claire20
- Châteauguay10
- Blainville10
Inbound, the leader is Montréal (305).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Hampstead
Of the 89 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Montréal census division, 69 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 62% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 66% of residents that age. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 60% were working. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Hampstead average 25.5 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 21.9 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Only 24% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. An hour or more: 3.8% of commuters, under 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.
52% more people are on EI in the Montréal census division than in 2019
In January 2021 it reached 103,570, the most in the series and 5.2 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 2.6 receive EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 7%.
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). Hampstead doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Montréal census division.
Getting around Hampstead on foot earns A
Better than 93% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #148 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
102nd of 706: where Hampstead ranks among Canadian towns of 5,200 to 10,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Boischatel Quebec | 9,250 | 85% | 4.8% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Chibougamau Quebec | 7,273 | 82% | 3.7% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Shannon Quebec | 7,088 | 81% | 3.7% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 100 | Sherwood/McCarthy Saskatchewan | 5,753 | 75% | 9.2% | $95K | A |
| 101 | Charleswood Alberta | 5,642 | 73% | 15% | $116K | A− |
| 102 | Hampstead Quebec | 7,464 | 77% | 9% | $151K | A− |
| 103 | Talbot Ontario | 8,085 | 75% | 8.9% | $125K | A− |
| 104 | Secord Alberta | 8,205 | 78% | 8% | $126K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Hampstead, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Work in the places around Hampstead
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampstead | 77% | 9% | $151K | 25.5 min | A− | A |
| Snowdon 1.1 km | 72% | 11% | $66K | 30.2 min | D | A+ |
| Loyola 1.6 km | 71% | 11% | $63K | 33.4 min | D | A+ |
| Côte-Saint-Antoine 1.8 km | 78% | 8.8% | $89K | 28.5 min | B | A+ |
| Côte-Saint-Luc 1.9 km | 76% | 12% | $73K | 29.7 min | C | A+ |
| Savane 2 km | 68% | 12% | $61K | 29.9 min | D− | A+ |
| Upper Lachine 2.3 km | 70% | 12% | $51K | 32.5 min | D− | 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 Hampstead, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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. 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. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Hampstead
How many jobs are there in Hampstead?
Some 600 people worked in Hampstead at the 2021 census: 0.3 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 500 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Hampstead?
At the 2021 census 9% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Montréal metro area, gives 6.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Hampstead?
The census puts Hampstead at $150,500 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Hampstead get to work?
Driving takes 79% of commuters to work, 12% take public transit, 4% walk and 1.4% cycle, and on census day 38% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Hampstead?
About 25.5 minutes on average, with 24% under a quarter-hour and 3.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Hampstead work?
11% work in Hampstead itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Montréal (1,190), then Mont-Royal (160).
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).