Photo: Thivierr · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Hillhurst earn more than those in 91% of Canadian towns
72% of people aged 15 to 64 in Hillhurst had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Working at home: 45% of its workers, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Commutes from Hillhurst average 21.8 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Hillhurst
Higher incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $106,000 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Many work from home
45% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Hillhurst grades A− for jobs and income
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #89 of 474 in Alberta.
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.
Household income in Hillhurst: $106,000 at the median
Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Hillhurst’s median is 15% above. 72 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
Without a car, 28% of Hillhurst’s commuters get to work
By bus, train or subway: 11%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 14% against 2.5%. Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 68% against 88%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Work and the working-age population of Hillhurst
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 71 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 68%. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 67% of the wider area’s adults in work. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
EI claims in Census Division No. 6 run 35% above their 2019 level
Roughly 4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: Census Division No. 6. 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 Hillhurst is: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #7 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Hillhurst next to Canadian towns of 5,900 to 11,400: 148th of 686 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Glenora Alberta | 6,197 | 78% | 9.1% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 146 | Blandford-Blenheim Ontario | 8,251 | 81% | 6.9% | $107K | A− |
| 147 | Whitecourt Alberta | 10,708 | 71% | 14% | $100K | A− |
| 148 | Hillhurst Alberta | 8,435 | 72% | 8.6% | $106K | A− |
| 149 | Charlesworth Alberta | 8,135 | 77% | 12% | $112K | A− |
| 150 | South Bruce Ontario | 6,247 | 82% | 6.1% | $88K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 686 | Beasley Ontario | 6,338 | 49% | 17% | $47K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Hillhurst, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The work picture around Hillhurst
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillhurst | 72% | 8.6% | $106K | 21.8 min | A− | A+ |
| Downtown West End 1.1 km | 77% | 10% | $80K | 22.3 min | B+ | A+ |
| Rosedale 1.3 km | 75% | 12% | $101K | 21.4 min | A | A+ |
| Sunnyside 1.3 km | 81% | 10% | $74K | 24.1 min | B | A+ |
| Downtown Commercial Core 1.7 km | 69% | 15% | $51K | 26.8 min | D | A+ |
| Sunalta 1.8 km | 76% | 14% | $68K | 26.8 min | C | A+ |
| Capitol Hill 1.9 km | 66% | 16% | $80K | 25.3 min | C | 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 Hillhurst, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Hillhurst’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Calgary’s page.
Questions about work in Hillhurst
How do people in Hillhurst get to work?
Driving takes 68% of commuters to work, 11% take public transit, 14% walk and 2.9% cycle, and on census day 45% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Hillhurst?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Calgary as a whole, and its page carries them.
What is the unemployment rate in Hillhurst?
At the 2021 census 8.6% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Calgary metro area, gives 6.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Hillhurst?
Hillhurst’s middle household had $106,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).