Photo: Cell82 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Richmond are lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
78% of people aged 15 to 64 in Richmond had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Richmond: 1,365, for 1,040 residents with a usual workplace. The 2021 census put unemployment in Richmond at 4.8%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Richmond
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 4.8% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 3.7% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $51,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 1,365 jobs based in Richmond and 1,040 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.5% last an hour or longer. 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.
Jobs and income in Richmond earn C
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #338 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
In and out of work in Richmond
None of the 4 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.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 55% of residents 15 and over were in work. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 58% of the wider area’s adults in work. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 57% 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.
The median household in Richmond had $51,600 in 2020
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Le Val-Saint-François census division has a higher median. That puts Richmond 30% below 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).
Each working day, Richmond’s workforce swells by 26%
Each resident commuting out of Richmond is matched by about 2 coming in. Of those who commute, 39% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 22 minutes, commutes from Richmond are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.9 minutes. In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 46% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. An hour or more: 3.5% 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.
958 people come into Richmond to work, most from Sherbrooke and Cleveland
70% of the people who work in Richmond live outside it, 165 of them in Sherbrooke, 34 km away. Going the other way, Sherbrooke is the biggest single destination (125).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Richmond gets to work without a car for 9.3% of commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. 89% drive to work, fewer than the 90% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Only 13% worked at home on census day, against 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).
EI claims in the Le Val-Saint-François census division run 20% above their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 15%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 1,560 people, 2.8 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.4 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. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Richmond alone, so this card uses the figure for the Le Val-Saint-François census division.
How walkable Richmond is: A
Better than 90% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #161 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,600, Richmond ranks 490th of 742 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 488 | Beresford New Brunswick | 4,389 | 69% | 12% | $67K | C+ |
| 489 | Saint-Côme--Linière Quebec | 3,435 | 78% | 6.4% | $64K | C+ |
| 490 | Richmond Quebec | 3,419 | 78% | 4.8% | $52K | C |
| 491 | Head of St Margarets Bay Nova Scotia | 2,885 | 68% | 11% | $101K | C |
| 492 | Ormstown Quebec | 4,259 | 79% | 7.2% | $65K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 742 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Richmond, and others among Quebec’s towns.
How the places next to Richmond compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | 78% | 4.8% | $52K | 22 min | C | A |
| Cleveland 2.6 km | 76% | 5.8% | $74K | 22.5 min | B− | C− |
| Melbourne 2.7 km | 76% | 3.8% | $81K | 25.9 min | B− | D |
| Durham-Sud 13.6 km | 79% | 9.1% | $64K | 27 min | C | C |
| Windsor 14.7 km | 79% | 6.2% | $62K | 21 min | B− | A− |
| Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey 14.9 km | 79% | 10% | $63K | 26.9 min | C | C+ |
| Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton 15.6 km | 87% | 2.2% | $79K | 23.5 min | A | 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 Richmond, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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 share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Richmond
How many jobs are there in Richmond?
Some 1,365 people worked in Richmond at the 2021 census: 1.3 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 128 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Richmond?
The census put unemployment at 4.8% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Estrie economic region at 3.7%.
What is the average household income in Richmond?
The median household in Richmond had $51,600 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Richmond get to work?
Driving takes 89% of commuters to work, 9.3% walk, and on census day 13% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Richmond?
About 22 minutes on average, with 46% under a quarter-hour and 3.5% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Richmond work?
39% work in Richmond itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Sherbrooke (125), then Drummondville (100).
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).