Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès works elsewhere: the town has 0.5 jobs for each resident in work
At the 2021 census, 79% of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès’ 15-to-64s were in work, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Saint-Étienne-des-Grès had an unemployment rate of 6.4% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Before tax, the typical household in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès brought in $81,800 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Saint-Étienne-des-Grès apart on jobs and income
More people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 79% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 61%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 4.3% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 6.4%, 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.
Saint-Étienne-des-Grès earns B+ for jobs and income
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #187 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 and out of work in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Maskinongé census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 61% of residents 15 and over were in work. In October 2026, 55% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 65% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. 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.
Saint-Étienne-des-Grès empties a little on a working day
For every person who comes in to work, about 2 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 18% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
82% of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès’ residents in work leave it to work; Trois-Rivières takes the most
Coming the other way, Trois-Rivières sends the most (225).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 60% of Canadian towns.
Saint-Étienne-des-Grès’ median is 10% above the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). No other place of 2,500 or more in the Maskinongé census division has a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Saint-Étienne-des-Grès gets to work without a car for 2.9% of commuters
Transit takes 0.5% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 96% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 16% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Saint-Étienne-des-Grès average 25.3 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 22.6 minutes. In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Only 18% 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.
35% more people are on EI in the Maskinongé census division than in 2019
The highest month was January 2021: 2,690 people, 2.9 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.3 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. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Maskinongé 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).
On getting around on foot, Saint-Étienne-des-Grès grades C
Better than 25% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #461 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Saint-Étienne-des-Grès ranks: 227th of 716 Canadian towns of 3,300 to 6,300
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Havre-Saint-Pierre Quebec | 3,389 | 76% | 6.6% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Saint-Antonin Quebec | 4,633 | 85% | 3.9% | $76K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 225 | North Huron Ontario | 5,411 | 80% | 8.1% | $77K | B+ |
| 226 | Rockwood Manitoba | 4,554 | 79% | 7% | $74K | B+ |
| 227 | Saint-Étienne-des-Grès Quebec | 4,675 | 79% | 6.4% | $82K | B+ |
| 228 | Westmount Ontario | 5,048 | 76% | 9.2% | $88K | B+ |
| 229 | Parkridge Saskatchewan | 4,518 | 68% | 9.9% | $97K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 716 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, and others among Quebec’s towns.
The places around Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Étienne-des-Grès | 79% | 6.4% | $82K | 25.3 min | B+ | C |
| Saint-Barnabé 7.3 km | 76% | 7.8% | $66K | 26.1 min | C | D |
| Saint-Boniface 8.4 km | 82% | 3.8% | $81K | 24.5 min | A− | C |
| Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel 9.4 km | 77% | 5% | $76K | 26.8 min | C+ | C− |
| Charette 10 km | 80% | 6.8% | $63K | 30.8 min | C− | C+ |
| Saint-Élie-de-Caxton 13.9 km | 77% | 9.5% | $64K | 30.4 min | C− | C− |
| Shawinigan 16.3 km | 71% | 7.5% | $54K | 21.5 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 Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- 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. 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. 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 Saint-Étienne-des-Grès
Where do people in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès work?
Only 18% work in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès itself; the rest go first to Trois-Rivières (710) and Shawinigan (240).
How many jobs are there in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès?
Statistics Canada counted 148 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Mauricie economic region at 4.3%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 6.4%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès?
Saint-Étienne-des-Grès’s middle household had $81,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès get to work?
Driving takes 96% of commuters to work, 0.5% take public transit and 2.4% walk, and on census day 16% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Saint-Étienne-des-Grès?
About 25.3 minutes on average, with 18% under a quarter-hour and 3.8% at an hour or longer.
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).