Photo: Tiado · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Claresholm trail those of 77% of Canadian towns
Getting to work from Claresholm takes 15.9 minutes on average, an hour or more for 5.7%. 73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Claresholm had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. Census day 2021 found 10% of Claresholm’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Claresholm apart on jobs and income
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $65,500 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 15.9 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.7% last an hour or longer. 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.
Jobs and income in Claresholm earn B−
Better than 52% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #260 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
Claresholm households: $65,500 a year at the median
Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Claresholm’s median is 29% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 3 has a higher median. 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).
How long the commute from Claresholm takes
The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 76%, more than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 13.7 minutes.
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.
In and out of Claresholm: the working day evens out
The job is inside the municipality for 62% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
38% of Claresholm’s residents in work leave it to work; Willow Creek No. 26 takes the most
- Willow Creek No. 26180
- Stavely75
- Lethbridge20
- Pincher Creek20
- Calgary20
- Lethbridge County15
- Fort Macleod15
- Vulcan County15
- Coaldale10
- Willow Creek No. 26225
- Fort Macleod45
- Vulcan30
- Calgary25
- Stavely20
- Nanton20
- High River15
- Lethbridge County10
- Lethbridge10
- Pincher Creek10
Inbound, the leader is Willow Creek No. 26 (180).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Claresholm
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 3, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 59% in October 2026. Working or looking, 53% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 47% of residents 15 and over were in work. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Without a car, 12% of Claresholm’s commuters get to work
Only 8% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.5% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 9.9% of commuters, well above the 2.5% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 87% against 88%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
17% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 3 than in 2019
That is about 2.8 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 6%. April 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,410 people on EI, 2.4 times 2019’s average.
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. 3. 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 Claresholm: graded A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #232 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
343rd of 724: where Claresholm ranks among Canadian towns of 3,000 to 5,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 341 | Dutton/Dunwich Ontario | 4,686 | 79% | 9.3% | $89K | B− |
| 342 | Saint-Ambroise Quebec | 4,262 | 79% | 4.3% | $75K | B− |
| 343 | Claresholm Alberta | 4,242 | 73% | 10% | $66K | B− |
| 344 | Windsor Quebec | 5,368 | 79% | 6.2% | $62K | B− |
| 345 | Fort Macleod Alberta | 3,945 | 70% | 6.3% | $75K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 724 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Claresholm, and others among Alberta’s towns.
How Claresholm compares with the places nearby
No closer places have figures: these lie 10–48 km from Claresholm.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claresholm | 73% | 10% | $66K | 15.9 min | B− | A− |
| Willow Creek No. 26 10.1 km | 77% | 3.4% | $81K | 24.2 min | B | B− |
| Fort Macleod 36.3 km | 70% | 6.3% | $75K | 17.9 min | B− | A |
| Nanton 38 km | 87% | 9.1% | $77K | 26.9 min | B+ | A |
| Nobleford 41.7 km | 70% | 4% | $89K | 24.7 min | B− | C+ |
| Vulcan 47.8 km | 69% | 11% | $68K | 18.6 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 Claresholm, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. 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.
Questions about work in Claresholm
How many jobs are there in Claresholm?
The 2021 census counted about 1,075 people working in Claresholm: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 178 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Claresholm?
At the 2021 census 10% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region, gives 6.3% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Claresholm?
Claresholm’s middle household had $65,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Claresholm get to work?
By car: 87% of commuters, 1.5% take public transit, 9.9% walk and 0.8% cycle; on census day 8% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Claresholm?
15.9 minutes is the average trip, with 76% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.7% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Claresholm work?
62% work in Claresholm itself; of those who leave, the most go to Willow Creek No. 26 (225), then Fort Macleod (45).
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).