Photo: Qyd · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Edson earn more than those in 83% of Canadian towns
The average trip to work from Edson is 17.1 minutes; 7.7% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Jobs were held by 72% of people aged 15 to 64 in Edson in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Edson had an unemployment rate of 11% at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What the numbers say about work in Edson
A local job centre
3,985 people work in Edson and 2,945 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 17.1 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 7.7% take an hour or more. 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Edson: A
Better than 87% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #42 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
Every working day, Edson’s workforce grows by 32%
About 4 people arrive to work in Edson for each resident who goes out. 87% 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.
Time on the road to work from Edson
Trips under 15 minutes: 73%, more than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 16.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 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.
1,423 people come into Edson to work, most from Yellowhead County and Edmonton
- Yellowhead County180
- Hinton70
- Edmonton25
- Fort McMurray25
- Camrose10
- Pigeon Lake 138A10
- Fox Creek10
Of everyone working in Edson, 36% come in from elsewhere; 1,125 make the 28 km trip from Yellowhead County. Outbound, Yellowhead County takes the most: 180 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Edson
A smaller share in work than in 64% of Canadian towns.
In October 2026, 63% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Working or looking, 70% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
$97,800 a year: the median household in Edson
Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Edson sits 6% above. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 8.6% of commuters in Edson
Home was the workplace for 8.3%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 90% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in Census Division No. 14 run 12% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in April 2021, 2,070 people were on EI, 3.6 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.6 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 9%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (Census Division No. 14). 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, Edson grades A−
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
82nd of 675: where Edson ranks among Canadian towns of 6,100 to 11,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Glenora Alberta | 6,197 | 78% | 9.1% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 80 | Sage Creek Manitoba | 7,391 | 80% | 5.7% | $126K | A |
| 81 | Killarney/Glengarry Alberta | 7,935 | 78% | 9.3% | $101K | A |
| 82 | Edson Alberta | 8,692 | 72% | 11% | $98K | A |
| 83 | Manotick Ontario | 8,770 | 80% | 10% | $159K | A |
| 84 | South-West Oxford Ontario | 8,375 | 79% | 7.9% | $98K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 675 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Edson, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Edson and its neighbours: work and income
The nearest places to Edson with figures are 28–79 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edson | 72% | 11% | $98K | 17.1 min | A | A− |
| Yellowhead County 27.5 km | 71% | 12% | $90K | 29 min | C | C |
| Hinton 77.5 km | 72% | 12% | $105K | 17.4 min | A | A− |
| Whitecourt 79.4 km | 71% | 14% | $100K | 20.2 min | A− | B+ |
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 Edson, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so 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. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Edson
How many jobs are there in Edson?
The 2021 census found about 3,985 people with their usual workplace in Edson, or 1.4 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 608 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Edson?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region at 5.6%; 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 Edson?
Before tax, half the households in Edson had more than $97,800 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Edson get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 0.5% take public transit, 7.7% walk and 0.4% cycle; 8.3% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Edson?
The average commute is 17.1 minutes; 73% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.7% an hour or more.
Where do people in Edson work?
Most stay: 87% work in Edson. The rest go first to Yellowhead County (180) and Hinton (70).
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).