Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainJobs, pay and the trip to work in Cardston
Commutes from Cardston average 18.1 minutes, and 4.8% take an hour or more. In May 2021, unemployment in Cardston reached 7.3%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The census counted 1,250 people working in Cardston and 995 residents commuting to a fixed workplace.
The work numbers behind Cardston
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 7.3% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 6.3%. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
1,250 people work in Cardston and 995 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 18.1 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.8% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Cardston grades B+
Better than 68% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #133 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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 Cardston, 75% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 3, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 51% were working. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Every working day, Cardston’s workforce grows by 22%
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Cardston. 75% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Cardston
In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 66% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 15.6 minutes (Statistics Canada).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
504 people come into Cardston to work, most from Cardston County and Blood 148
- Blood 14865
- Lethbridge50
- Fort Macleod35
- Magrath25
- Improvement District No. 4 Waterton25
- Cardston County20
- Sparwood10
Of everyone working in Cardston, 40% come in from elsewhere; 265 make the 9 km trip from Cardston County. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Blood 148 (65).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Cardston work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Half the households in Cardston had more than $76,200 in 2020
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 52% of Canadian towns.
That puts Cardston 17% below the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 3, 5 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 6.4% of Cardston’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 11%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.8%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 5.6% against 2.5%. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
In Census Division No. 3, 17% more people receive EI than in 2019
Cardston doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 3.
That is about 2.8 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 6%. At its peak, in April 2021, 1,410 people were on EI, 2.4 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. 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 Cardston: graded B+
Better than 74% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #318 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Cardston is 240th among 773 Canadian towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 238 | Clermont Quebec | 3,117 | 78% | 9.9% | $67K | B+ |
| 239 | Electoral Area A, Columbia-Shuswap British Columbia | 3,672 | 76% | 12% | $85K | B+ |
| 240 | Cardston Alberta | 3,863 | 75% | 7.3% | $76K | B+ |
| 241 | Radisson Manitoba | 3,653 | 76% | 8.2% | $92K | B+ |
| 242 | Mactaggart Alberta | 3,603 | 73% | 9% | $122K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 773 | 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 Cardston, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Cardston, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardston | 75% | 7.3% | $76K | 18.1 min | B+ | B+ |
| Cardston County 9 km | 61% | 4.4% | $90K | 27 min | C | D− |
| Blood 148 16.8 km | 37% | 23% | $68K | 25.6 min | D | C |
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 Cardston, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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. 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 census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Cardston
How do people in Cardston get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 0.8% take public transit and 5.6% walk. On census day 11% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Cardston?
On average 18.1 minutes; 66% take under 15 minutes and 4.8% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Cardston work?
75% work in Cardston itself; of those who leave, the most go to Blood 148 (65), then Lethbridge (50).
How many jobs are there in Cardston?
About 1,250 people had their usual place of work in Cardston at the 2021 census, 1.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 166 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Cardston?
The census put unemployment at 7.3% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region at 6.3%.
What is the average household income in Cardston?
Before tax, half the households in Cardston had more than $76,200 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · 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).