Barnwell has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 91% of Canadian towns
6.9% of the labour force in Barnwell was out of work at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. 110 people have their usual place of work in Barnwell, against 215 residents who travel to a job. The median household in Barnwell had $96,700 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Barnwell stands out on work
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 62% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 55%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 6.9% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
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 Barnwell earn C+
Better than 39% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Barnwell at work: 62% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 2, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 58% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 59% in October 2026. 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.
Each working day, more people leave Barnwell for work than come in
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. The job is inside the municipality for 6.5% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
93% of Barnwell’s residents in work leave it to work; Taber takes the most
Taber sends the largest group the other way, 55 people.
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 Barnwell
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 82% of Canadian towns.
One of the 10 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 2 has a higher median. The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Barnwell is 5% above it. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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 Barnwell go without a car
Home was the workplace for 5.9%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 98% 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).
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Barnwell average 24.9 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 22.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 34%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. An hour or more: 6.2% of commuters, close to the middle of Alberta’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.
27% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 2 than in 2019
Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for Census Division No. 2 as a whole, not for Barnwell alone.
The highest month was January 2021: 8,020 people, 2.7 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 3.3 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%.
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).
How walkable Barnwell is: C+
Better than 43% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in the places around Barnwell
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnwell | 62% | 6.9% | $97K | 24.9 min | C+ | C+ |
| Taber 9 km | 74% | 6.5% | $82K | 16 min | A− | B− |
| Taber 19.1 km | 69% | 5.4% | $88K | 22.9 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Barnwell, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Barnwell
How do people in Barnwell get to work?
Driving takes 98% of commuters to work, and on census day 5.9% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Barnwell?
About 24.9 minutes on average, with 34% under a quarter-hour and 6.2% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Barnwell work?
Only 6.5% work in Barnwell itself; the rest go first to Taber (130) and Taber (30).
How many jobs are there in Barnwell?
Some 110 people worked in Barnwell at the 2021 census: 0.5 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 62 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Barnwell?
At the 2021 census 6.9% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region, gives 6.3% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Barnwell?
The census puts Barnwell at $96,700 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).