Photo: Thank you for visiting my page from Canada · CC BY 2.0Cochrane has higher household incomes than 94% of Canadian towns
The average trip to work from Cochrane is 29.8 minutes; 8.2% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. At the 2021 census, 77% of Cochrane’s 15-to-64s were in work, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Out of work in May 2021: 9.5% of Cochrane’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What Cochrane’s work numbers say
Higher incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $113,000 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 29.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 8.2% 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.
On jobs and income, Cochrane grades B
Better than 62% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #174 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.
$113,000 a year: the median household in Cochrane
That puts Cochrane 22% above the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. 56 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Commuting times in Cochrane
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 27.6 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Only 36% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
A commuter town: Cochrane sends out more workers than it takes in
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. 48% 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.
52% of Cochrane’s residents in work leave it to work; Calgary takes the most
- Calgary1,025
- Rocky View County460
- Airdrie155
- Mountain View County95
- Bighorn No. 840
- Carstairs20
- Cremona20
- Crossfield15
- Canmore15
- Edmonton10
- Calgary3,065
- Rocky View County345
- Canmore185
- Fort McMurray135
- Airdrie130
- Bighorn No. 8115
- Banff85
- Kananaskis40
- Edmonton30
- Foothills County20
Coming the other way, Calgary sends the most (1,025).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Cochrane has a job
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 131 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 63% were working. In October 2026, 67% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 69% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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.
5.6% of commuters in Cochrane walk, cycle or take transit
Transit takes 1.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters. 25% 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).
35% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 6 than in 2019
Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for Census Division No. 6 as a whole, not for Cochrane alone.
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. The highest month was January 2021: 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 level. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI.
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).
The walkability of Cochrane: B+
Better than 67% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #346 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 27,600 to 53,200, Cochrane ranks 39th of 157 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Fort Saskatchewan Alberta | 30,575 | 74% | 11% | $113K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Spruce Grove Alberta | 44,575 | 75% | 10% | $107K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 31 | Leduc Alberta | 39,966 | 74% | 12% | $100K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Portobello South Ontario | 29,960 | 75% | 8.5% | $129K | B |
| 38 | Moose Jaw Saskatchewan | 36,337 | 73% | 9.5% | $74K | B |
| 39 | Cochrane Alberta | 39,397 | 77% | 9.5% | $113K | B |
| 40 | North Cowichan British Columbia | 34,525 | 76% | 7.1% | $79K | B |
| 41 | Du Plateau Quebec | 29,234 | 77% | 8.4% | $96K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 157 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Cochrane, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Cochrane, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cochrane | 77% | 9.5% | $113K | 29.8 min | B | B+ |
| Rocky View County 15.2 km | 75% | 9.3% | $150K | 30.7 min | B | C |
| Rocky Ridge 16.7 km | 71% | 14% | $121K | 29.5 min | B− | B |
| Tuscany 17.4 km | 73% | 10% | $147K | 28.6 min | B | A |
| Royal Oak 18.3 km | 66% | 11% | $122K | 28.6 min | C+ | A |
| Valley Ridge 18.4 km | 73% | 11% | $159K | 27 min | B | D |
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 Cochrane, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Cochrane
How many jobs are there in Cochrane?
The 2021 census counted about 6,060 people working in Cochrane: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 1,161 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Cochrane?
The census put unemployment at 9.5% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Calgary metro area at 6.6%.
What is the average household income in Cochrane?
At $113,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Cochrane compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Cochrane get to work?
By car: 91% of commuters, 1.2% take public transit, 3.8% walk and 0.6% cycle; on census day 25% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Cochrane?
29.8 minutes is the average trip, with 36% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.2% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Cochrane work?
48% work in Cochrane itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Calgary (3,065), then Rocky View County (345).
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).