Photo: ChristianT · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Saint-Prime
An hour or more each way is the commute for 3.6% of workers in Saint-Prime; the average is 18.1 minutes. The 2021 census put unemployment in Saint-Prime at 6.3%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Before tax, the typical household in Saint-Prime brought in $75,000 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Saint-Prime, in a few figures
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 6.3% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 3.6%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 18.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.6% 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.
Saint-Prime grades B for jobs and income
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #195 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Saint-Prime: 74%
A smaller share in work than in 54% of Canadian towns.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 57% of residents 15 and over were in work. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 59% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Working or looking, 61% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
The length of the trip to work in Saint-Prime
Trips under 15 minutes: 53%, more than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 17.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 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-Prime
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. Of those who commute, 25% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
75% of Saint-Prime’s residents in work leave it to work; Saint-Félicien takes the most
- Saint-Félicien180
- Roberval100
- Sainte-Hedwidge25
- Mashteuiatsh20
- Chambord15
- Lac-Bouchette10
- La Doré10
- Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc10
- Dolbeau-Mistassini10
- Saint-Eugène-d'Argentenay10
In the other direction the biggest source is Saint-Félicien, with 180.
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 Saint-Prime earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 55% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Quebec’s towns, where the median is $74,100, Saint-Prime sits 1% above. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
3.2% of commuters from Saint-Prime go without a car
Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters.
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 Domaine-du-Roy census division run 5% above their 2019 level
January 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,600 people on EI, 2.4 times 2019’s average. Roughly 4.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 10%.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Le Domaine-du-Roy census division, Saint-Prime included.
Saint-Prime grades D for walkability
Better than 14% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #490 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Saint-Prime is 195th of 527 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,800 people 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| 11 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 193 | Trinity Ontario | 2,708 | 77% | 10% | $115K | B |
| 194 | Normandin Quebec | 3,065 | 82% | 6.1% | $67K | B |
| 195 | Saint-Prime Quebec | 2,808 | 74% | 6.3% | $75K | B |
| 196 | Buchanan Manitoba | 3,473 | 72% | 9% | $98K | B |
| 197 | Hanna Alberta | 2,665 | 73% | 10% | $75K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 527 | 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 Saint-Prime, and others among Quebec’s towns.
The places around Saint-Prime, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Prime | 74% | 6.3% | $75K | 18.1 min | B | D |
| Mashteuiatsh 7.7 km | 67% | 11% | $78K | 17.9 min | B− | D |
| Saint-Félicien 9.8 km | 77% | 6.2% | $67K | 18.6 min | B | B |
| Roberval 12.6 km | 73% | 6% | $63K | 14.9 min | B− | 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-Prime, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Saint-Prime
How long is the commute from Saint-Prime?
The average commute is 18.1 minutes; 53% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.6% an hour or more.
Where do people in Saint-Prime work?
25% work in Saint-Prime itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Saint-Félicien (275), then Roberval (260).
How many jobs are there in Saint-Prime?
The 2021 census found about 620 people with their usual workplace in Saint-Prime, or 0.7 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 96 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Prime?
The census put unemployment at 6.3% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean economic region at 3.6%.
What is the average household income in Saint-Prime?
At $75,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Saint-Prime compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Saint-Prime get to work?
95% of commuters drive, 3.2% walk; 13% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).