Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainWhere Didsbury earns its living
The median household in Didsbury had $77,800 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. From Didsbury, the drive or ride to work averages 26.6 minutes, with 12% going an hour or longer. In Didsbury, 76% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Work in Didsbury, in a few figures
Work near the middle
Counting everyone 15 and over, 56% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 76%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 1,640 jobs based in Didsbury and 1,590 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Didsbury earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 41% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #322 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.
Didsbury keeps its workforce on a working day
1,590 residents of Didsbury had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,640 people had theirs in Didsbury, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 49% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
859 people come into Didsbury to work, most from Mountain View County and Olds
- Olds365
- Calgary140
- Airdrie40
- Carstairs30
- Sundre30
- Mountain View County25
- Innisfail25
- Crossfield20
- Fort McMurray20
- Carbon15
52% of the people who work in Didsbury live outside it, 340 of them in Mountain View County, 17 km away. Olds is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 365 of them.
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 Didsbury work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In and out of work in Didsbury
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 124 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 56%. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 66% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 63% of residents that age. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
What households in Didsbury earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 51% of Canadian towns.
137 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. Didsbury’s median is 16% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). 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).
Without a car, 5.4% of Didsbury’s commuters get to work
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Alberta’s towns has 2.5% walking; here, 4.6% do. Nearly everyone drives: 91% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 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.
Time on the road to work from Didsbury
A quarter-hour or less for 43% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 23.1 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.
In Census Division No. 6, 35% more people receive EI than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 6, Didsbury included.
That is about 4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 1%. The highest month was January 2021: 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 level.
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).
On getting around on foot, Didsbury grades B+
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #306 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Didsbury is 442nd of 728 Canadian towns of 3,600 to 7,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Richmond Alberta | 4,811 | 79% | 9.2% | $114K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 440 | Berthierville Quebec | 4,591 | 80% | 4.4% | $50K | C+ |
| 441 | Swan River Manitoba | 4,048 | 71% | 8% | $61K | C+ |
| 442 | Didsbury Alberta | 5,185 | 76% | 10% | $78K | C+ |
| 443 | County Court Ontario | 5,726 | 68% | 17% | $109K | C+ |
| 444 | Greenstone Ontario | 4,398 | 67% | 8.7% | $73K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 728 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Didsbury, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work next door to Didsbury
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Didsbury | 76% | 10% | $78K | 26.6 min | C+ | B+ |
| Carstairs 11.6 km | 76% | 10% | $99K | 33.5 min | C+ | B+ |
| Olds 15.1 km | 78% | 9.8% | $83K | 19.4 min | A | A− |
| Mountain View County 17.1 km | 85% | 7.9% | $94K | 30.8 min | B+ | 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 Didsbury, 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. 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. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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 Didsbury
How long is the commute from Didsbury?
On average 26.6 minutes; 43% take under 15 minutes and 12% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Didsbury work?
49% work in Didsbury itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Olds (365), then Calgary (140).
How many jobs are there in Didsbury?
About 1,640 people had their usual place of work in Didsbury at the 2021 census, 1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 236 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Didsbury?
The 2021 census found 10% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Calgary economic region, is 6.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Didsbury?
At $77,800 before tax in 2020, the median household in Didsbury compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Didsbury get to work?
91% of commuters go by car, 4.6% walk and 0.8% cycle. On census day 13% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).