Photo: Michael from Calgary, AB, Canada · CC BY 2.0Patterson has higher household incomes than 78% of Canadian towns
Working at home: 36% of its workers, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Workers in Patterson spend 26.6 minutes on the way to work on average (26 in the middle of Canadian towns). Of Patterson’s residents aged 15 to 64, 75% were employed when the 2021 census was taken; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
The work figures that set Patterson apart
More unemployment than most towns
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 36% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. 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.
Jobs & income in Patterson: graded B
Better than 56% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #223 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Work for 75% of 15-to-64s in Patterson
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 107 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 67% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 63% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 53%. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
12% of commuters from Patterson go without a car
The middle of Alberta’s towns has 5.7% on transit; here it is 10%. 83% drive to work, fewer than the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Before tax, the median household in Patterson had $92,600
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 98 have a higher median. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
35% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 6 than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4 are on EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of 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).
The walkability of Patterson: B+
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #309 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Patterson is 317th among 747 Canadian towns of 2,900 to 5,600
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 315 | Trillium Ontario | 2,967 | 74% | 13% | $117K | B |
| 316 | Livingston Alberta | 3,929 | 75% | 12% | $118K | B |
| 317 | Patterson Alberta | 4,169 | 75% | 15% | $93K | B |
| 318 | Electoral Area C, Nanaimo British Columbia | 3,733 | 71% | 8.1% | $102K | B |
| 319 | Deer Ridge Alberta | 4,454 | 73% | 14% | $92K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 747 | Division No. 1, Subdivision E Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,978 | 57% | 22% | $60K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Patterson, and others among Alberta’s towns.
How the places next to Patterson compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patterson | 75% | 15% | $93K | 26.6 min | B | B+ |
| Coach Hill 0.7 km | 77% | 11% | $105K | 25.9 min | A− | B+ |
| Strathcona Park 1.4 km | 69% | 14% | $157K | 25.3 min | B | A |
| Montgomery 1.6 km | 75% | 12% | $90K | 23.2 min | B+ | A+ |
| Wildwood 1.9 km | 77% | 8.7% | $121K | 23 min | A | A |
| Westgate 2 km | 74% | 9.9% | $101K | 23.3 min | A− | A |
| West Springs 2.2 km | 71% | 12% | $168K | 27.7 min | B− | 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 Patterson, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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.
- 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. 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. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Patterson’s figures add those up. Calgary’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Patterson
What is the unemployment rate in Patterson?
The 2021 census found 15% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Calgary metro area, is 6.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Patterson?
The census puts Patterson at $92,600 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Patterson get to work?
83% of commuters drive, 10% take public transit and 2% walk; 36% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Patterson?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Calgary as a whole, and its page carries them.
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).