Photo: Wilfredor · CC0Lévis has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 91% of Canadian towns
The median household in Lévis had $83,800 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. An hour or more each way is the commute for 2.5% of workers in Lévis; the average is 22.5 minutes. In May 2021, unemployment in Lévis reached 5.3%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Lévis stands out on work
More people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 84% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 65%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 5.3% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 4.5%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 22.5 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.5% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Lévis: A
Better than 92% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #40 of 507 in Quebec.
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.
In Lévis, 84% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 65% were working. In October 2026, 63% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 68%. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
How long the commute from Lévis takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.1 minutes. In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 35%, more than the 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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Lévis
51,625 residents of Lévis had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 46,300 people had theirs in Lévis, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 60% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
40% of Lévis’ residents in work leave it to work; Québec takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Québec (5,415).
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 Lévis work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Lévis
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 64% of Canadian towns.
That puts Lévis 13% above the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. 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).
Leaving the car at home: 7.8% of commuters in Lévis
24% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 3.3% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns.
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.
EI claims in the Lévis census division run 24% above their 2019 level
The count topped out in January 2021 at 7,280 people, 4.1 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 2.9 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Lévis 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).
How walkable Lévis is: A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #250 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 112,600 to 217,200, Lévis ranks 1st of 32 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Saguenay Quebec | 151,972 | 78% | 5.5% | $69K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Terrebonne Quebec | 126,872 | 80% | 5.9% | $95K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Sherbrooke Quebec | 184,135 | 77% | 6.1% | $63K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 64% | 15% | $86K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Lévis, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Around Lévis: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lévis | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | 22.5 min | A | A− |
| Sillery 3.5 km | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | 19.5 min | A+ | A+ |
| Saint-Louis 5 km | 81% | 7.5% | $78K | 21.7 min | A− | A+ |
| Saint-Sacrement 5.2 km | 79% | 7.4% | $62K | 21.2 min | B− | A+ |
| Montcalm 5.7 km | 80% | 9.7% | $70K | 20.7 min | B+ | A+ |
| Cité-Universitaire 5.8 km | 67% | 10% | $54K | 20.6 min | C− | A+ |
| Saint-Jean-Baptiste 6.4 km | 76% | 12% | $53K | 21.1 min | C | 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 Lévis, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; 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.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Lévis
How do people in Lévis get to work?
Driving takes 91% of commuters to work, 3.3% take public transit, 3.9% walk and 0.6% cycle, and on census day 24% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Lévis?
About 22.5 minutes on average, with 35% under a quarter-hour and 2.5% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Lévis work?
Most stay: 60% work in Lévis. The rest go first to Québec (14,105) and Saint-Henri (605).
How many jobs are there in Lévis?
Some 46,300 people worked in Lévis at the 2021 census: 0.9 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 4,323 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Lévis?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 5.3% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Québec metro area at 4.5% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Lévis?
Lévis’s middle household had $83,800 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).