Upper Mount Royal ranks among the highest-earning Canadian towns by household income
At the 2021 census, 83% of Upper Mount Royal’s 15-to-64s were in work; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Workers in Upper Mount Royal spend 16.8 minutes on the way to work on average (26 in the middle of Canadian towns). Working at home: 43% of its workers, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%.
What stands out about work in Upper Mount Royal
More people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 83% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 62%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
At $188,200 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 16.8 minutes; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. Getting to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 43% 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 and income in Upper Mount Royal earn A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on three measures together, #1 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.
In and out of work in Upper Mount Royal
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 165 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. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 70%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 62%: many residents are past working age. 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.
What households earned in Upper Mount Royal: $188,200 in 2020
That puts Upper Mount Royal 104% above the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. 2 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Before tax, 2020: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
17% of commuters from Upper Mount Royal go without a car
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. On foot: 14% of commuters, well above the 2.5% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. 77% 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 6 run 35% above their 2019 level
The count topped out in January 2021 at 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average. That is about 4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in 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. Data for EI beneficiaries covers 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).
Walkability in Upper Mount Royal: graded A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #41 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 497 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,700, Upper Mount Royal comes 1st 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Erlton Alberta | 3,221 | 79% | 10% | $116K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | 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 Upper Mount Royal, and others among Alberta’s towns.
How Upper Mount Royal compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Mount Royal | 83% | 12% | $188K | 16.8 min | A+ | A+ |
| Lower Mount Royal 0.6 km | 74% | 14% | $58K | 25.7 min | C− | A+ |
| Bankview 0.9 km | 78% | 12% | $62K | 24.6 min | C | A+ |
| Mission 1.1 km | 80% | 14% | $68K | 22.1 min | B | A+ |
| Beltline 1.2 km | 78% | 12% | $71K | 23.9 min | B− | A+ |
| Elbow Park 1.2 km | 71% | 8.5% | $200K | 16.1 min | A | A− |
| South Calgary 1.4 km | 74% | 12% | $97K | 22.2 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 Upper Mount Royal, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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.
- 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 Upper Mount Royal’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Calgary’s page.
Questions about work in Upper Mount Royal
How many jobs are there in Upper Mount Royal?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Calgary has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Upper Mount Royal?
The census put unemployment at 12% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Calgary metro area at 6.6%.
What is the average household income in Upper Mount Royal?
At $188,200 before tax in 2020, the median household in Upper Mount Royal compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Upper Mount Royal get to work?
77% of commuters drive, 14% walk and 2.4% cycle; 43% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).