Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0More of Saint-Modeste’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 88% of Canadian towns
Saint-Modeste is the usual workplace of 270 people, and 435 of its own residents commute to a job. Before tax, the typical household in Saint-Modeste brought in $90,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. 9.2% of the labour force in Saint-Modeste was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Saint-Modeste: the figures worth knowing
More people in work than most towns
With 83% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 67% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 19.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 1.9% 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 Saint-Modeste earn A+
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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 Saint-Modeste, 83% of the working-age population has a job
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 67%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 52% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 73%. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
At 19.3 minutes, commutes from Saint-Modeste are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
A quarter-hour or less for 37% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 1.9% take an hour or more, against 5.3%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 15.7 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes.
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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Saint-Modeste
It sends out some 2 workers for every one it takes in. Of those who commute, 10% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
90% of Saint-Modeste’s residents in work leave it to work; Rivière-du-Loup takes the most
- Rivière-du-Loup90
- Saint-Antonin65
- Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup15
- L'Isle-Verte15
- Saint-Clément10
- Saint-François-Xavier-de-Viger10
- Saint-Épiphane10
- Saint-Elzéar-de-Témiscouata10
Inbound, the leader is Rivière-du-Loup (90).
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-Modeste
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 76% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Quebec’s towns is $74,100, and Saint-Modeste is 22% above it. 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).
0% of commuters from Saint-Modeste go without a car
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 9.2% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 97% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
12% more people are on EI in the Rivière-du-Loup census division than in 2019
Roughly 3.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 9%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,530 people on EI, 3.1 times 2019’s average.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Rivière-du-Loup census division as a whole, not for Saint-Modeste alone.
Everyday places on foot in Saint-Modeste: D−
Better than 2% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Saint-Modeste compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Modeste | 83% | 9.2% | $91K | 19.3 min | A+ | D− |
| Saint-Antonin 7 km | 85% | 3.9% | $76K | 16 min | A+ | C |
| Rivière-du-Loup 10.7 km | 78% | 7% | $63K | 13.6 min | B+ | A− |
| Saint-Arsène 13.7 km | 85% | 6.2% | $80K | 18.3 min | A+ | B− |
| Cacouna 14 km | 81% | 8.4% | $73K | 20.7 min | A− | C+ |
| Notre-Dame-du-Portage 16.2 km | 87% | 6.7% | $82K | 20.4 min | A+ | C− |
| Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup 17.2 km | 73% | 6.3% | $65K | 25.7 min | C− | B− |
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-Modeste, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s 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.
- 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 Saint-Modeste
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Modeste?
At the 2021 census 9.2% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Bas-Saint-Laurent economic region, gives 4.3% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Saint-Modeste?
Before tax, half the households in Saint-Modeste had more than $90,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Saint-Modeste get to work?
By car: 97% of commuters; on census day 9.2% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Saint-Modeste?
19.3 minutes is the average trip, with 37% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 1.9% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Saint-Modeste work?
10% work in Saint-Modeste itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Rivière-du-Loup (340), then Saint-Antonin (25).
How many jobs are there in Saint-Modeste?
The 2021 census counted about 270 people working in Saint-Modeste: 0.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 38 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).