Photo: Masterhatch · CC0Hanna at work: jobs, income and the commute
At the 2021 census, Hanna sat at the middle of Canadian towns on work: 73% of 15-to-64s had a job. For 3.6% of commuters in Hanna, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 16.8 minutes. In 2020, a household at the middle of Hanna had $75,000 before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
Hanna at work: what stands out
A local job centre
1,075 people work in Hanna and 765 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 16.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.6% 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.
Hanna earns B for jobs and income
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #158 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.
A working day adds 36% to the people at work in Hanna
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 5 to 1 in Hanna. 90% 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 Hanna
Timed exactly, the average is 14.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 69%, more 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.
389 people come into Hanna to work, most from Special Area No. 2 and Starland County
- Special Area No. 2205
- Starland County40
- Calgary25
- Drumheller20
- Stettler County No. 615
- Youngstown10
- Castor10
- Stettler10
Of everyone working in Hanna, 36% come in from elsewhere; 205 make the 24 km trip from Special Area No. 2. Drumheller is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 15 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Hanna
A smaller share in work than in 59% of Canadian towns.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 57% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 61% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 54% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. 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.
Household income in Hanna
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 55% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Hanna is 19% below it. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 14% of Hanna’s commuters
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 11% against 2.5%. Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 84% against 88%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 9.3% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
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. 4 run 50% above their 2019 level
The count topped out in January 2021 at 320 people, 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 2.7 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 36%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of Census Division No. 4. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Everyday places on foot in Hanna: A+
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #95 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Hanna is 170th of 458 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,600 people for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 168 | Saint-Prime Quebec | 2,808 | 74% | 6.3% | $75K | B |
| 169 | Buchanan Manitoba | 3,473 | 72% | 9% | $98K | B |
| 170 | Hanna Alberta | 2,665 | 73% | 10% | $75K | B |
| 171 | Crawford Plains Alberta | 3,075 | 76% | 13% | $101K | B |
| 172 | Marritt Ontario | 2,759 | 74% | 8.9% | $136K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 458 | 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 Hanna, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in the places around Hanna
The nearest places to Hanna with figures are 24–79 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanna | 73% | 10% | $75K | 16.8 min | B | A+ |
| Special Area No. 2 24.4 km | 82% | 3.6% | $81K | 24.4 min | A− | D |
| Starland County 44.6 km | 63% | 7.8% | $79K | 30.2 min | D | C |
| Drumheller 57.8 km | 66% | 8.8% | $74K | 16.2 min | B− | B+ |
| Paintearth County No. 18 72.3 km | 82% | 3.8% | $84K | 25.5 min | A− | D |
| Special Area No. 4 78.5 km | 88% | 2.8% | $86K | 26.1 min | A | 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 Hanna, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not 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. 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 share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Hanna
What is the unemployment rate in Hanna?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 10% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Camrose-Drumheller economic region at 8.8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Hanna?
The census puts Hanna at $75,000 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Hanna get to work?
84% of commuters go by car, 11% walk and 2.6% cycle. On census day 9.3% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Hanna?
On average 16.8 minutes; 69% take under 15 minutes and 3.6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Hanna work?
90% work in Hanna itself; of those who leave, the most go to Drumheller (15), then Newell County (10).
How many jobs are there in Hanna?
About 1,075 people had their usual place of work in Hanna at the 2021 census, 1.4 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 134 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).