Photo: Glenlarson~commonswiki · Public domainFewer of Bowden’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 90% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 23% of Bowden’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Bowden is the usual workplace of 175 people, and 330 of its own residents commute to a job. The median household in Bowden had $69,100 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Work in Bowden, in a few figures
Fewer people in work than most towns
62% 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 49%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 23% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 5.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $69,100 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 29.5 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.
Bowden earns D for jobs and income
Better than 6% 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.
62% of working-age people in Bowden have jobs
None of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 8 has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 66% of the wider area’s adults in work. Counting retirees, 49% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
What households in Bowden earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 69% of Canadian towns.
That puts Bowden 25% below the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. 10 of the 11 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 8 have a higher median. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
At 29.5 minutes, commutes from Bowden are longer than in the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 27.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Only 30% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. An hour or more: 15% of commuters, above the 7% in 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
On a working day, Bowden loses more workers than it gains
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 12% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
88% of Bowden’s residents in work leave it to work; Innisfail takes the most
Red Deer County sends the largest group the other way, 60 people.
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 Bowden work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
2.2% of commuters from Bowden go without a car
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 96% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 13% against 21%.
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.
EI claims in Census Division No. 8 run 5% above their 2019 level
Bowden shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of Census Division No. 8.
Roughly 3.4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 6%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 13,700 people, 3.1 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).
The Walkability grade for Bowden: B
Better than 58% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Bowden, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowden | 62% | 23% | $69K | 29.5 min | D | B |
| Innisfail 11.1 km | 73% | 11% | $76K | 20.8 min | B− | B+ |
| Olds 16.4 km | 78% | 9.8% | $83K | 19.4 min | A | A− |
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 Bowden, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Bowden
What is the average household income in Bowden?
At $69,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Bowden compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Bowden get to work?
96% of commuters go by car, 2.2% walk. On census day 13% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Bowden?
On average 29.5 minutes; 30% take under 15 minutes and 15% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Bowden work?
12% work in Bowden itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Innisfail (105), then Olds (95).
How many jobs are there in Bowden?
About 175 people had their usual place of work in Bowden at the 2021 census, 0.5 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 31 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Bowden?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 23% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Red Deer economic region at 5.3% in October 2026.
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).