Photo: Bythelake10 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Chestermere earn more than in almost any other Canadian town
73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Chestermere had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Chestermere: 1,745, for 6,260 residents with a usual workplace. The 2021 census put unemployment in Chestermere at 11%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Chestermere, in a few figures
Work near the middle
With 73% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 63% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $135,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
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, Chestermere grades B
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #187 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.
Chestermere households: $135,000 a year at the median
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 19 have a higher median. Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Chestermere’s median is 46% above. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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.
Chestermere empties a little on a working day
About 7 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. Of those who commute, 17% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
83% of Chestermere’s residents in work leave it to work; Calgary takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Calgary (475).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Chestermere has a job
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 82 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
71% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 67% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 3.1% of Chestermere’s commuters
25% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 27.4 minutes from Chestermere
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 24.8 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 16%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. An hour or more: 3.1% of commuters, under the 7% in the middle of Alberta’s towns.
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.
35% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 6 than in 2019
Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across Census Division No. 6, with Chestermere one part of it.
In January 2021 it reached 97,600, the most in the series and 3.2 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. 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 counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walking in Chestermere earns B−
Better than 50% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #399 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Chestermere is 69th of 229 Canadian towns of 22,200 to 42,800
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 3 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Fort Saskatchewan Alberta | 30,575 | 74% | 11% | $113K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Grande Prairie County No. 1 Alberta | 25,883 | 78% | 9.6% | $120K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 51 | Beaumont Alberta | 26,305 | 76% | 8.7% | $130K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 67 | North Cowichan British Columbia | 34,525 | 76% | 7.1% | $79K | B |
| 68 | Du Plateau Quebec | 29,234 | 77% | 8.4% | $96K | B |
| 69 | Chestermere Alberta | 31,671 | 73% | 11% | $135K | B |
| 70 | Uxbridge Ontario | 22,618 | 79% | 8.4% | $117K | B |
| 71 | Boisbriand Quebec | 29,830 | 78% | 7% | $87K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 229 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Chestermere, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in the places around Chestermere
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chestermere | 73% | 11% | $135K | 27.4 min | B | B− |
| Abbeydale 7.4 km | 66% | 15% | $86K | 27.8 min | C− | A |
| Applewood Park 7.5 km | 65% | 16% | $88K | 27.6 min | C | A |
| Penbrooke Meadows 8.7 km | 59% | 20% | $71K | 27.3 min | D | A |
| Monterey Park 8.9 km | 67% | 15% | $97K | 26.6 min | C+ | B+ |
| Marlborough Park 9 km | 63% | 17% | $84K | 26.4 min | C− | A |
| Pineridge 9.2 km | 63% | 16% | $76K | 26.4 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 Chestermere, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- 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. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Chestermere
How long is the commute from Chestermere?
27.4 minutes is the average trip, with 16% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 3.1% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Chestermere work?
17% work in Chestermere itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Calgary (4,470), then Rocky View County (390).
How many jobs are there in Chestermere?
The 2021 census counted about 1,745 people working in Chestermere: 0.3 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 1,024 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Chestermere?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Calgary metro area at 6.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 11%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Chestermere?
At $135,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Chestermere compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Chestermere get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 1% take public transit, 1.7% walk and 0.4% cycle; on census day 25% of those in work worked from home.
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).