Photo: Kayoty · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer of Buffalo Narrows’ 15-to-64s are in work than in 98% of Canadian towns
Of everyone in Buffalo Narrows working or looking for work in May 2021, 19% were unemployed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. From Buffalo Narrows, the drive or ride to work averages 17.5 minutes, with 10% going an hour or longer. Median household income in Buffalo Narrows was $90,000 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Buffalo Narrows’ work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 51% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 52% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021, 19% of those working or looking had no job; the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 17.5 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 10% take an hour or more. 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.
On jobs and income, Buffalo Narrows grades B
Better than 55% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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 Buffalo Narrows, 51% of the working-age population has a job
65% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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.
Commuting times in Buffalo Narrows
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.2 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 76%, more than the 67% in the middle of Saskatchewan’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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
About as many people come in to work in Buffalo Narrows as leave
200 residents of Buffalo Narrows had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 195 people had theirs in Buffalo Narrows, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 77% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
23% of Buffalo Narrows’ residents in work leave it to work; La Loche takes the most
Of those coming in, Saskatoon supplies the most: 10.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Buffalo Narrows work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Earnings at home in Buffalo Narrows: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 75% of Canadian towns.
Buffalo Narrows’ median is 4% above the middle of Saskatchewan’s towns ($86,800). CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Without a car, 0% of Buffalo Narrows’ commuters get to work
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 9.2% against 21%. 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
In Census Division No. 18, 18% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
The highest month was August 2021: 3,250 people, 1.7 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 6.9 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: Census Division No. 18. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How walkable Buffalo Narrows is: C
Better than 28% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Around Buffalo Narrows: jobs, pay and the commute
Distances here run 58–125 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Buffalo Narrows.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Narrows | 51% | 19% | $90K | 17.5 min | B | C |
| Île-à-la-Crosse 57.9 km | 43% | 25% | $92K | 12.3 min | B+ | A− |
| La Loche 90.8 km | 33% | 25% | $72K | 13.9 min | C+ | A |
| Pinehouse 125.1 km | 36% | 20% | $80K | 15.9 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 Buffalo Narrows, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed 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.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Buffalo Narrows
Where do people in Buffalo Narrows work?
77% work in Buffalo Narrows itself; of those who leave, the most go to La Loche (15).
How many jobs are there in Buffalo Narrows?
The 2021 census counted about 195 people working in Buffalo Narrows: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 28 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Buffalo Narrows?
At the 2021 census, unemployment stood at 19%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Buffalo Narrows?
The median household in Buffalo Narrows had $90,000 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Buffalo Narrows get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters; on census day 9.2% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Buffalo Narrows?
17.5 minutes is the average trip, with 76% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 10% taking an hour or more.
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, 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).