Photo: busand2003 · CC BY 3.0Making a living in Melbourne
In 2020, a household at the middle of Melbourne had $80,800 before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. 3.8% of the labour force in Melbourne was out of work at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Melbourne had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
What Melbourne’s work numbers say
Work near the middle
The 2021 census found 76% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 58%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 3.7% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 3.8%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
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 Melbourne earn B−
Better than 48% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Who in Melbourne has a job
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Le Val-Saint-François census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 58% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 58% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Counting those looking for work too, 60% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
About as many people come in to work in Melbourne as leave
15% 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.
239 people come into Melbourne to work, most from Sherbrooke and Richmond
- Sherbrooke65
- Richmond50
- Drummondville35
- Danville20
- Cleveland20
- Windsor15
- Val-des-Sources10
- Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton10
- Ulverton10
Of everyone working in Melbourne, 85% come in from elsewhere; 65 make the 33 km trip from Sherbrooke. Outbound, Richmond takes the most: 75 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Melbourne earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 or more in the Le Val-Saint-François census division, 2 have a higher median. That puts Melbourne 9% above the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
2.5% of commuters from Melbourne go without a car
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 96% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Working at home: 22% here, 21% in 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).
25.9 minutes from Melbourne to work, about the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 24.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 28%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. An hour or more: 5.1% of commuters, 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.
20% more people are on EI in the Le Val-Saint-François census division than in 2019
January 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,560 people on EI, 2.8 times 2019’s average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.4 are on EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 15%.
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). Melbourne doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Le Val-Saint-François census division.
How walkable Melbourne is: D
Better than 11% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Melbourne
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 76% | 3.8% | $81K | 25.9 min | B− | D |
| Richmond 2.7 km | 78% | 4.8% | $52K | 22 min | C | A |
| Cleveland 5.3 km | 76% | 5.8% | $74K | 22.5 min | B− | C− |
| Durham-Sud 12.3 km | 79% | 9.1% | $64K | 27 min | C | C |
| Windsor 14.3 km | 79% | 6.2% | $62K | 21 min | B− | A− |
| Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton 14.3 km | 87% | 2.2% | $79K | 23.5 min | A | C− |
| Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey 16.7 km | 79% | 10% | $63K | 26.9 min | C | C+ |
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 Melbourne, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Melbourne
What is the average household income in Melbourne?
The median household in Melbourne had $80,800 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Melbourne get to work?
Driving takes 96% of commuters to work, 2.5% walk, and on census day 22% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Melbourne?
About 25.9 minutes on average, with 28% under a quarter-hour and 5.1% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Melbourne work?
Only 15% work in Melbourne itself; the rest go first to Richmond (75) and Drummondville (55).
How many jobs are there in Melbourne?
Some 280 people worked in Melbourne at the 2021 census: 1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 39 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Melbourne?
Two figures answer it: 3.8% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.7% for the Estrie economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
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).