Photo: John Wiley User:Jw4nvc - Santa Barbara, California · CC BY 3.0Fewer of Fort Macleod’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 73% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Fort Macleod reached 6.3%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. 1,560 people have their usual place of work in Fort Macleod, against 935 residents who travel to a job. Before tax, the typical household in Fort Macleod brought in $75,000 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What Fort Macleod’s work numbers say
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 6.3% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 6.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
1,560 people work in Fort Macleod and 935 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 17.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.3% 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.
On jobs and income, Fort Macleod grades B−
Better than 52% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #261 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.
In Fort Macleod, 70% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 3, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 52%. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 59% in work in October 2026. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Fort Macleod fills up on a working day: 59% more workers
Each resident commuting out of Fort Macleod is matched by about 4 coming in. Of those who commute, 77% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Shorter than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Fort Macleod average 17.9 minutes
Trips under 15 minutes: 64%, more than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. An hour or more: 3.3% of commuters, under the 7% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 15.4 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
837 people come into Fort Macleod to work, most from Willow Creek No. 26 and Lethbridge
Of everyone working in Fort Macleod, 54% come in from elsewhere; 345 make the 27 km trip from Willow Creek No. 26. Going the other way, Lethbridge is the biggest single destination (85).
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 Fort Macleod work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
What households in Fort Macleod earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 55% of Canadian towns.
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 3, 6 have a higher median. Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Fort Macleod sits 19% below. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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, 9.5% of Fort Macleod’s commuters get to work
Home was the workplace for 9.3%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 8.7% against 2.5%. 88% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Alberta’s 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.
17% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 3 than in 2019
Fort Macleod doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 3.
Roughly 2.8 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number 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. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Fort Macleod grades A for walkability
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #187 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Fort Macleod is 354th of 747 Canadian towns of 2,800 to 5,300 people for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 352 | Saint-Ambroise Quebec | 4,262 | 79% | 4.3% | $75K | B− |
| 353 | Claresholm Alberta | 4,242 | 73% | 10% | $66K | B− |
| 354 | Fort Macleod Alberta | 3,945 | 70% | 6.3% | $75K | B− |
| 355 | Baturyn Alberta | 4,796 | 70% | 15% | $96K | B− |
| 356 | Oka Quebec | 4,312 | 80% | 6.7% | $86K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 747 | Saint-Côme Quebec | 2,810 | 58% | 14% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Fort Macleod, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work next door to Fort Macleod
No closer places have figures: these lie 27–36 km from Fort Macleod.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Macleod | 70% | 6.3% | $75K | 17.9 min | B− | A |
| Willow Creek No. 26 27.3 km | 77% | 3.4% | $81K | 24.2 min | B | B− |
| Nobleford 30.3 km | 70% | 4% | $89K | 24.7 min | B− | C+ |
| Piikani 147 31.1 km | 39% | 15% | $60K | 25.9 min | D− | C |
| Coalhurst 34 km | 73% | 10% | $92K | 24.2 min | B | C+ |
| Claresholm 36.3 km | 73% | 10% | $66K | 15.9 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 Fort Macleod, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Fort Macleod
What is the average household income in Fort Macleod?
Fort Macleod’s middle household had $75,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Fort Macleod get to work?
88% of commuters go by car, 8.7% walk and 0.8% cycle. On census day 9.3% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Fort Macleod?
On average 17.9 minutes; 64% take under 15 minutes and 3.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Fort Macleod work?
Most stay: 77% work in Fort Macleod. The rest go first to Lethbridge (85) and Willow Creek No. 26 (20).
How many jobs are there in Fort Macleod?
About 1,560 people had their usual place of work in Fort Macleod at the 2021 census, 1.7 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 217 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Fort Macleod?
The census put unemployment at 6.3% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat economic region at 6.3%.
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).