Walden’s household incomes are higher than in 94% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 11% of Walden’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. At 28.6 minutes on average, the trip to work from Walden compares with 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Walden counted 75% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Walden: what the figures say
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 75% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 70%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household had $113,300 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
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 Walden: graded B
Better than 60% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #202 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.
The median household in Walden had $113,300 in 2020
That puts Walden 23% above the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 54 have a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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).
Work and the working-age population of Walden
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 103 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 67% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 78%. 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.
Leaving the car at home: 7.9% of commuters in Walden
By car, truck or van: 88% of commuters, much as in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Home was the workplace for 26%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Transit takes 5.7% of commuters, above the 3.5% 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
January 2021 was the busiest month, with 97,600 people on EI, 3.2 times 2019’s 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. EI beneficiaries: 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 Walden: A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #275 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Walden is 281st among 695 Canadian towns of 5,700 to 11,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 279 | Ponoka County Alberta | 10,670 | 79% | 8.5% | $92K | B |
| 280 | Strathcona Park Alberta | 8,680 | 69% | 14% | $157K | B |
| 281 | Walden Alberta | 8,190 | 75% | 11% | $113K | B |
| 282 | Allard Alberta | 8,148 | 77% | 9.6% | $105K | B |
| 283 | Saint-Félicien Quebec | 10,143 | 77% | 6.2% | $67K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 695 | Beasley Ontario | 6,338 | 49% | 17% | $47K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Walden, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Next to Walden: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walden | 75% | 11% | $113K | 28.6 min | B | A− |
| Chaparral 1.4 km | 73% | 12% | $140K | 26.8 min | B | A− |
| Legacy 2 km | 80% | 8.9% | $103K | 31.4 min | B+ | C+ |
| Sundance 3.1 km | 72% | 11% | $136K | 25.4 min | B+ | A− |
| Silverado 3.1 km | 74% | 12% | $126K | 31.5 min | B− | A |
| Cranston 4.1 km | 76% | 9.5% | $129K | 27.3 min | B+ | A− |
| Somerset 4.6 km | 70% | 13% | $100K | 29.9 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 Walden, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
- Neighbourhood figures. Walden’s census figures are summed from its dissemination areas. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages are published only for the whole municipality, so they are on Calgary’s page.
Questions about work in Walden
How do people in Walden get to work?
88% of commuters drive, 5.7% take public transit, 1.9% walk and 0.3% cycle; 26% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Walden?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Calgary’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
What is the unemployment rate in Walden?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 11% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Calgary metro area at 6.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Walden?
At $113,300 before tax in 2020, the median household in Walden compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).