Photo: Ken Eckert · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in Bentley are less likely to have a job than in 76% of Canadian towns
17% of the labour force in Bentley was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Jobs located in Bentley: 330, for 250 residents with a usual workplace. In 2020, a household at the middle of Bentley had $77,500 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
The work numbers behind Bentley
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 17% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
330 people work in Bentley and 250 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Bentley: C−
Better than 24% 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.
Work for 69% of 15-to-64s in Bentley
Of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 8, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 61% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 51% were working. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 66% 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.
Workers pour into Bentley: 26% more on a working day
32% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
250 people come into Bentley to work, most from Lacombe County and Lacombe
- Lacombe County70
- Lacombe40
- Sylvan Lake30
- Ponoka County30
- Red Deer25
- Gull Lake15
- Red Deer County10
- Ponoka10
- Rimbey10
The main destination the other way is Red Deer, with 45.
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 Bentley
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 51% of Canadian towns.
8 of the 11 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 8 have a higher median. Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Bentley’s median is 16% below. 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).
Bentley gets to work without a car for 6.6% of commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 93% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Only 13% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 26.2 minutes from Bentley
Only 32% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 6.6%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 24.1 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.
5% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 8 than in 2019
Bentley doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 8.
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 6%. At its peak, in February 2021, 13,700 people were on EI, 3.1 times the 2019 average. That is about 3.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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).
Bentley on foot: a B grade
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Bentley
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley | 69% | 17% | $78K | 26.2 min | C− | B |
| Lacombe County 17.8 km | 78% | 8.8% | $89K | 27.9 min | B | C+ |
| Sylvan Lake 18.5 km | 70% | 15% | $92K | 27.2 min | C+ | B |
| Blackfalds 19.2 km | 72% | 13% | $104K | 25.5 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 Bentley, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around 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 census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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 Bentley
Where do people in Bentley work?
Only 32% work in Bentley itself; the rest go first to Red Deer (45) and Sylvan Lake (30).
How many jobs are there in Bentley?
The 2021 census counted about 330 people working in Bentley: 1.3 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 102 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Bentley?
At the 2021 census 17% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Red Deer economic region, gives 5.3% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Bentley?
The median household in Bentley had $77,500 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Bentley get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 6.6% walk; on census day 13% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Bentley?
26.2 minutes is the average trip, with 32% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 6.6% 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, 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).