Photo: Qyd · CC BY 2.5Household incomes in Sunalta are lower than in 71% of Canadian towns
Public transit carries 22% of its commuters. Workers in Sunalta spend 26.8 minutes on the way to work on average (26 in the middle of Canadian towns). 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Sunalta had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Sunalta: what the figures say
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 14% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 6.6%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $68,100 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Many work from home
37% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Sunalta: C
Better than 29% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #376 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, household income.
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 many in Sunalta were working in 2021
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 128 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
80% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. In October 2026, 67% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
$68,100 a year: the median household in Sunalta
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 156 have a higher median. The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Sunalta is 26% below it. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
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: 36% of Sunalta’s commuters
In the middle of Alberta’s towns hardly anyone cycles to work; here, 3.1% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 62% against 88%. Working at home: 37% here, 21% 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 6 run 35% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. At its peak, in January 2021, 97,600 people were on EI, 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. 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).
The Walkability grade for Sunalta: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #27 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Sunalta ranks: 535th of 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 533 | Stellarton Nova Scotia | 4,251 | 67% | 14% | $61K | C |
| 534 | Countryside Ontario | 5,595 | 67% | 13% | $118K | C |
| 535 | Sunalta Alberta | 4,151 | 76% | 14% | $68K | C |
| 536 | Glenview West Ontario | 3,431 | 72% | 11% | $77K | C |
| 537 | Westlock Alberta | 5,363 | 69% | 10% | $63K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Sunalta, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The places around Sunalta, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunalta | 76% | 14% | $68K | 26.8 min | C | A+ |
| Bankview 0.8 km | 78% | 12% | $62K | 24.6 min | C | A+ |
| Lower Mount Royal 1.2 km | 74% | 14% | $58K | 25.7 min | C− | A+ |
| South Calgary 1.3 km | 74% | 12% | $97K | 22.2 min | A− | A+ |
| Downtown West End 1.4 km | 77% | 10% | $80K | 22.3 min | B+ | A+ |
| Upper Mount Royal 1.5 km | 83% | 12% | $188K | 16.8 min | A+ | A+ |
| Richmond 1.5 km | 79% | 9.2% | $114K | 20.1 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 Sunalta, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Sunalta’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Calgary’s page.
Questions about work in Sunalta
What is the average household income in Sunalta?
The census puts Sunalta at $68,100 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Sunalta get to work?
Driving takes 62% of commuters to work, 22% take public transit, 11% walk and 3.1% cycle, and on census day 37% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Sunalta?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Calgary has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Sunalta?
At the 2021 census 14% 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.
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).