Photo: Carl Young · CC BY-SA 4.0High Level has higher household incomes than 90% of Canadian towns
73% of people aged 15 to 64 in High Level had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. From High Level, the drive or ride to work averages 11.7 minutes, with 2.1% going an hour or longer. 8.8% of the labour force in High Level was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The work figures that set High Level apart
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $105,300 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
1,975 people work in High Level and 1,485 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 11.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.1% 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.
High Level earns A+ for jobs and income
Better than 95% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #15 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.
$105,300 a year: the median household in High Level
That puts High Level 14% above the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. One of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 17 has a higher median. 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).
A working day adds 30% to the people at work in High Level
High Level takes in some 6 workers for every resident it sends out. Of those who commute, 94% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in High Level
A quarter-hour or less for 83% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 9.1 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.
582 people come into High Level to work, most from La Crète and Northern Lights County
- La Crète360
- Northern Lights County35
- Bushe River 20725
- Calgary20
- Rainbow Lake20
- Hay Lake 20920
- Edmonton15
- John D'Or Prairie 21515
- Halifax10
- Fox Lake 16210
- La Crète10
- John D'Or Prairie 21510
- Bushe River 20710
- Upper Hay River 21210
Of everyone working in High Level, 29% come in from elsewhere; 360 make the 56 km trip from La Crète. Outbound, La Crète takes the most: 10 people.
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 High Level
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 17, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 79% of residents that age. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 63% in work in October 2026. 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 8.4% of High Level’s commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The middle of Alberta’s towns has 2.5% walking; here, 7.8% do. Only 8.3% worked at home on census day, against 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 17 are back near their 2019 level
July 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,310 people on EI, 2.3 times 2019’s average. That is about 4.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%.
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. 17. 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 High Level: A
Better than 87% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #200 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, High Level is 37th among 719 Canadian towns of 3,100 to 5,900
| # | 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 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Enniskillen Ontario | 3,174 | 82% | 5.2% | $105K | A+ |
| 36 | Robertson Manitoba | 5,090 | 83% | 9% | $91K | A+ |
| 37 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 73% | 8.8% | $105K | A+ |
| 38 | White City Saskatchewan | 4,379 | 83% | 4.1% | $171K | A+ |
| 39 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 78% | 7% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 719 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of High Level, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work next door to High Level
Distances here run 56–152 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from High Level.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Level | 73% | 8.8% | $105K | 11.7 min | A+ | A |
| La Crète 55.7 km | 65% | 8.1% | $90K | 18.9 min | B | C |
| Fox Lake 162 151.8 km | 24% | 22% | $61K | 8.5 min | C− | 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 High Level, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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. 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in High Level
What is the average household income in High Level?
The median household in High Level had $105,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in High Level get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 7.8% walk and 0.6% cycle; 8.3% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from High Level?
The average commute is 11.7 minutes; 83% of trips take under 15 minutes and 2.1% an hour or more.
Where do people in High Level work?
Most stay: 94% work in High Level. The rest go first to La Crète (10) and John D'Or Prairie 215 (10).
How many jobs are there in High Level?
The 2021 census found about 1,975 people with their usual workplace in High Level, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 236 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in High Level?
The census put unemployment at 8.8% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region at 5.6%.
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).