High LevelAlberta
In Alberta, this town has 4,390 residents. It is part of Division No. 17, a census division.
Is High Level a good place to live?
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Police record more crime here than in most towns (D−). Overall, High Level earns a C, which places it #351 of 473 in Alberta. Nationally, it does better than nearly a third of Canadian towns. Hazards are a real consideration (D−). Work and incomes are strong (A+). Cost of living is a strength too (A). Schools are weaker too (D).
This town's rent is the 2021 census rent scaled to 2025 by its province's ratio of surveyed to census rents: no rental survey covers it, so its Cost Grade is less sure. Safety is the police detachment's figure, shared with the towns and countryside around it. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread. Wildfire lowers this town's Hazard risk Grade: a high share of the land around it has burned in the last 40 years.
How High Level grades
Each subject compares High Level with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes High Level stand out
The 3 things High Level does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in High Level.
High Level earns a D− for hazard risk
Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, just 0.7% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Fire is a regular visitor: 26% of the land within 25 km of High Level has burned since 1986 (0.66% a year). Nobody publishes radon tests for High Level alone, so this card uses the figure for the Northern Lights Health Region.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | High Level | Alberta | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 0.7% | 7.5% | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.005 | $0.013 | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
The police who cover High Level record more serious crime than Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns: a Crime Severity Index of 324
Where it is policed, thefts, break-ins and damage came to 196 per 1,000 a year, above Alberta’s towns (45) and Canadian towns (31.2) alike. Violent crime in the area its police cover: 74.3 per 1,000 people a year.
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | High Level | Alberta | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Severity Index | 324 | 110 | 67 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 499 | 109 | 86 |
| Violent crime | 74.3 | 14.2 | 12 |
| Property crime per 1,000 | 196 | 45 | 31.2 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average · Area behind the Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000 figures: the High Level detachment area
Trips to work from High Level are shorter than from Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns: 12 min on average
90% of commuters drove, near both Alberta’s towns (88%) and Canadian towns (89%).
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | High Level | Alberta | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 12 min | 26 min | 26 min |
| Car or van | 90% | 88% | 89% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · These are May 2021 figures, gathered while COVID-19 kept many people home or out of work.
In the lower two fifths in Alberta: 3 of the 3 schools around High Level with results
Taken together, High Level and its 3 km edge hold 2 elementary schools, 1 secondary school and 1 school for every grade for 1,122 students.
Schools by system · Schools within 3 km
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florence MacDougall Community SchoolLargest elementary schoolElementary · Grades K–3 | Elementary · Grades K–3 | 309 | English public |
| High Level Public School Bottom fifth in AlbertaLargest secondary schoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Secondary · Grades 7–12 | 491 | English public |
Provincial school lists and results, 2025/26
Rent takes less of local pay in High Level than in Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns: 15% of household income
64% of households own their home, below both Alberta’s towns (74%) and Canadian towns (74%). Shelter took 30% or more of income for 14% of households, below Alberta’s towns (21%) and Canadian towns (18%) alike.
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | High Level | Alberta | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent as a share of income | 15% | 20% | 20% |
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 14% | 21% | 18% |
| Households owning their home | 64% | 74% | 74% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · These are 2021 census values, as owners judged them, set against household income in 2020.
Life expectancy around High Level is 78.3 years, 3.2 less than for the typical Canadian town
At 17%, the share of adults who smoke tops the 11% for Alberta. The three chronic conditions the survey tracks average just over a fifth of adults, above both Alberta’s towns (18%) and Canadian towns (17%). On the other hand, the survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 48%, behind the 53% for Alberta. Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.0 km from the average resident of High Level, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. High Level doesn’t get its own health survey and life expectancy figures; the ones here come from the North Zone.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | High Level | Alberta | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Smokers | 17% | 12% | 12% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 78.3 | 81.2 | 81.5 |
| Very good or excellent health | 48% | 51% | 52% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
Winter nights bite in High Level: January lows of −25.0°C, colder than Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns
Summer highs in High Level reach 23.3°C in July. Frost comes on 222 days a year, above Alberta’s towns (193) and Canadian towns (159) alike. Gardeners get 98 frost-free days, from 30 May to 6 September. December is the snowiest month, with 29 cm on average.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | High Level | Alberta | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| January night low | −25.0°C | −14.7°C | −13.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 222 | 193 | 159 |
| Precipitation a year | 360 mm | 431 mm | 883 mm |
| July afternoon high | 23.3°C | 23.5°C | 25.5°C |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (High Level)
More of High Level’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in Alberta’s towns or Canadian towns: 35%
Visible minorities make up 15% of the population, below Alberta’s towns (29%) and Canadian towns (15%) alike. Children under 15 count for 24% of the people here. Over-65s are 13% of the population.
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
50.4% of High Level’s residents are women
Of the 2021 count, 1,980 were women and 1,945 men (women across Canada: 50.9%).
| High Level | Alberta | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | 18% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 64% | 67% | 64% |
| 65+ | 13% | 15% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 19% | 15% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 47% | 54% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Alberta and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
High Level in November: highs near −7°C, lows near −16°C
A typical November adds 28 cm of snow. In November, the normal is 21 mm of rain and snow. Hour-by-hour figures come from ECCC’s High Level forecast, on the Weather page.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −13°C | −24°C | 55 mm |
| Spring | 8°C | −6°C | 61 mm |
| Summer | 22°C | 9°C | 169 mm |
| Autumn | 5°C | −6°C | 75 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (High Level); the forecast is on the Weather page
High Level’s MP is Arnold Viersen (Conservative Party of Canada), for Peace River—Westlock
Across Alberta, 33 of the 37 MPs sit with the Conservative Party of Canada.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
Each person High Level Town Hall and Library serves borrows 3.6 items, fewer than at 83% of Alberta’s town libraries
A single building, High Level Town Hall and Library, serves 3,992 people.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
High Level has no protected land within 10 km
There is no national park within 100 km of the town. Caribou Mountains Wildland Provincial Park is the closest provincial park, at 86 km.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | High Level | Alberta | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 0% | 0.4% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
Everything we know about High Level
About High Level
Town in Alberta
High Level is a municipality in Alberta, read by TownRatings as Statistics Canada draws it: one census subdivision, so its figures cover the whole municipality.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 4,390 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Alberta
- Census division
- Division No. 17
- Census subdivision
- 4817093
Questions about High Level
Has High Level grown?
Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses it went from 3,159 to 3,922 residents (up 24.2%; Canadian towns’ median: 4.1%), and Statistics Canada now estimates 4,390.
Who are the people of High Level?
15% of residents belong to a visible minority, against 15% for the median of Canadian towns; 35% have an Indigenous identity and 13% are immigrants.
What kind of homes are in High Level?
Mostly 48% single-detached houses (the median of Canadian towns: 64%), with 0% of homes in buildings of five or more storeys. Households hold 2.7 people on average, and 26% have just one.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by 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).