Most of Clear Hills works elsewhere: the town has 0.4 jobs for each resident in work
Jobs were held by 75% of people aged 15 to 64 in Clear Hills in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Median household income in Clear Hills was $67,400 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. For 12% of commuters in Clear Hills, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 28.7 minutes.
Clear Hills and work: the main findings
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $67,400 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 41% 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.
Clear Hills grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 20% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #423 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Household income in Clear Hills
Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 17 has a higher median. Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Clear Hills’ median is 27% below. 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 1.3% of Clear Hills’ commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters. 41% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Clear Hills empties a little on a working day
445 residents of Clear Hills had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 195 people had theirs in Clear Hills, wherever they lived.
It sends out some 8 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 36% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
64% of Clear Hills’ residents in work leave it to work; Hines Creek takes the most
- Fairview15
- Hines Creek115
- Fairview95
- Peace River30
- Fairview No. 13615
- Sexsmith10
Coming the other way, Fairview sends the most (15).
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 Clear Hills work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Work and the working-age population of Clear Hills
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 17, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 69% of residents that age. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
Commuting times in Clear Hills
Timed exactly, the average is 27.9 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 34%, fewer than the 39% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in Census Division No. 17 are back near their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%. At its peak, in July 2021, 3,310 people were on EI, 2.3 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: Census Division No. 17. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How walkable Clear Hills is: D
Better than 6% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #472 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
510th of 639: where Clear Hills ranks among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 508 | Lauderdale Alberta | 2,954 | 57% | 16% | $78K | C− |
| 509 | Balfour Ontario | 4,171 | 66% | 12% | $80K | C− |
| 510 | Clear Hills Alberta | 3,110 | 75% | 8.4% | $67K | C− |
| 511 | Electoral Area D, North Okanagan British Columbia | 3,184 | 71% | 14% | $79K | C− |
| 512 | Niakwa Place Manitoba | 3,461 | 68% | 10% | $70K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | 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 Clear Hills, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The places around Clear Hills, side by side
The nearest places to Clear Hills with figures are 36–75 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear Hills | 75% | 8.4% | $67K | 28.7 min | C− | D |
| Fairview 35.8 km | 74% | 7.6% | $81K | 16.2 min | A− | A− |
| Fairview No. 136 36.8 km | 81% | 7.5% | $97K | 23 min | A | D− |
| Saddle Hills County 57.2 km | 89% | 3.4% | $83K | 28.7 min | B+ | C+ |
| Birch Hills County 72.4 km | 61% | 0% | $68K | 28.4 min | D | C |
| Grimshaw 74.8 km | 73% | 12% | $87K | 22.1 min | B | 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 Clear Hills, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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.
- 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. 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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.
- 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 Clear Hills
What is the unemployment rate in Clear Hills?
The census put unemployment at 8.4% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region at 5.6%.
What is the average household income in Clear Hills?
Before tax, half the households in Clear Hills had more than $67,400 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Clear Hills get to work?
95% of commuters drive, 1.3% walk; 41% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Clear Hills?
The average commute is 28.7 minutes; 34% of trips take under 15 minutes and 12% an hour or more.
Where do people in Clear Hills work?
36% work in Clear Hills itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Hines Creek (115), then Fairview (95).
How many jobs are there in Clear Hills?
The 2021 census found about 195 people with their usual workplace in Clear Hills, or 0.4 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 114 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).