Photo: Unknown artist Unknown artist · Public domainMore of Dawson’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 86% of Canadian towns
Dawson had an unemployment rate of 9% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Commutes from Dawson average 11.8 minutes, and 3.5% take an hour or more. Before tax, the typical household in Dawson brought in $77,500 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Dawson: what the figures say
More people in work than most towns
83% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 72%. In work ↓
A local job centre
With 890 jobs based in Dawson and 725 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 11.8 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 & income in Dawson: graded A+
Better than 97% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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 Dawson, 83% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 79%. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
On a working day Dawson gains 21% in workers
Dawson takes in some 4 workers for every resident it sends out. The job is inside the municipality for 92% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Dawson
A quarter-hour or less for 84% of commuters, against 36% in the middle of Canadian towns. Timed exactly, the average is 10.7 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
224 people come into Dawson to work, most from Yukon, Unorganized and Kimberley
- Yukon, Unorganized185
- Kimberley10
- Kelowna10
- Pelly Crossing10
25% of the people who work in Dawson live outside it, 185 of them in Yukon, Unorganized, 156 km away. The main destination the other way is Whitehorse, with 30.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Earnings at home in Dawson: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 51% of Canadian towns.
The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Dawson gets to work without a car for 39% of commuters
The middle of Canadian towns has 0.3% cycling; here, 4% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of Canadian towns: 60% against 89%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 5.5% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
18% more people are on EI in the Yukon census division than in 2019
That works out to around 2.9 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 7%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 2,280 people, 2.3 times the 2019 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Yukon census division, with Dawson one part of it.
Dawson earns A for walkability
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Dawson and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawson | 83% | 9% | $78K | 11.8 min | A+ | A |
| Yukon, Unorganized 155.7 km | 77% | 14% | $74K | 23 min | B | C |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come. No closer place has figures: this one lies 156 km from Dawson.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Dawson, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- 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.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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 Dawson
Where do people in Dawson work?
92% work in Dawson itself; of those who leave, the most go to Whitehorse (30), then Yukon, Unorganized (20).
How many jobs are there in Dawson?
About 890 people had their usual place of work in Dawson at the 2021 census, 1.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 126 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Dawson?
About 9%, by the census of May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Dawson?
At $77,500 before tax in 2020, the median household in Dawson compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Dawson get to work?
60% of commuters go by car, 35% walk and 4% cycle. On census day 5.5% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Dawson?
On average 11.8 minutes; 84% take under 15 minutes and 3.5% take 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, 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).