Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Black Diamond has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 64% of Canadian towns
Of everyone in Black Diamond working or looking for work in May 2021, 9.8% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Black Diamond take well under an hour: the average is 33.7 minutes, and 15% take 60 minutes or longer. The median household in Black Diamond had $76,300 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
The work numbers behind Black Diamond
Work near the middle
With 78% 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 ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 33.7 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 15% 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 Black Diamond: graded C
Better than 28% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #380 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, trip times.
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.
How long the commute from Black Diamond takes
Only 26% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 30.9 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
As many come into Black Diamond to work as leave
720 residents of Black Diamond had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 690 people had theirs in Black Diamond, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 32% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
68% of Black Diamond’s residents in work leave it to work; Calgary takes the most
- Calgary205
- Okotoks105
- Foothills County60
- Turner Valley35
- Rocky View County30
- High River20
- Longview10
- Fort McMurray10
In the other direction the biggest source is Foothills County, with 115.
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 Black Diamond work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Work for 78% of 15-to-64s in Black Diamond
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 152 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 52%: many residents are past working age. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 66% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 57% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
How Black Diamond’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 52% of Canadian towns.
140 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. Black Diamond’s median is 17% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walking, cycling or transit: 7.3% of Black Diamond’s commuters
90% drive to work, more than the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 10% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
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. 6, 35% more people receive EI than in 2019
The highest month was January 2021: 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 4 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for Census Division No. 6, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
On getting around on foot, Black Diamond grades A−
Better than 77% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #292 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Black Diamond next to Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,900: 392nd of 553 on 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 390 | Berrisfield Ontario | 3,773 | 67% | 13% | $86K | C |
| 391 | Saint-Chrysostome Quebec | 2,641 | 79% | 5.7% | $64K | C |
| 392 | Black Diamond Alberta | 2,910 | 78% | 9.8% | $76K | C |
| 393 | Forestville Quebec | 2,835 | 70% | 7.9% | $60K | C |
| 394 | Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Quebec | 3,328 | 74% | 9.8% | $71K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 553 | 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 Black Diamond, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Black Diamond
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Diamond | 78% | 9.8% | $76K | 33.7 min | C | A− |
| Turner Valley 3.9 km | 77% | 8% | $85K | 36.5 min | C | C+ |
| Foothills County 18.7 km | 78% | 8.7% | $133K | 32.2 min | B+ | C |
| Okotoks 19.2 km | 75% | 9.2% | $118K | 27.2 min | B+ | 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 Black Diamond, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Black Diamond
How many jobs are there in Black Diamond?
The 2021 census counted about 690 people working in Black Diamond: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 100 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Black Diamond?
The census put unemployment at 9.8% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Calgary economic region at 6.6%.
What is the average household income in Black Diamond?
The median household in Black Diamond had $76,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Black Diamond get to work?
By car: 90% of commuters, 7.3% walk; on census day 10% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Black Diamond?
33.7 minutes is the average trip, with 26% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 15% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Black Diamond work?
32% work in Black Diamond itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Calgary (205), then Okotoks (105).
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).